Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) has issued an apology after thousands were forced to miss headline acts when the after-party venue reached capacity.
Ticket holders vented their frustration on social media, claiming to have spent $200 for a ticket just to spend up to three hours in line and watch headliner performers including Dua Lipa, Sam Smith and Kesha on giant screens.
Worst mardi gras party ever!!!
WTF @sydneymardigras
Huge lines! Not moving.
Let's charge people over $200 to stand in a queue for 2.5 hours. Clearly all about the money grab. #sydneymardigras #MardiGras2020 #mardigraparty— Paul (@pauly5578) March 1, 2020
It’s being reported that 10,000 tickets were sold despite the main venue, Hordern Pavilion, only holding 5,500.
However, The Nibbler understands the party was held at multiple venues featuring four stages at the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park.
“We’re hearing your feedback about [Saturday] night’s 2020 Mardi Gras Party, with extended waiting times to get into the Hordern Pavilion when it reached capacity,” SGLMG said on its website.
“We are deeply disappointed and apologise that this has occurred.”
The organisation said it had lost the Royal Hall of Industries as a venue for the annual Mardi Gras Party, which kicks off after the parade.
“We recognise significant changes are required for the smaller party footprint to be successful,” SGLMG said.
“After exploring a range of other options across the city, it was determined the Hordern Pavilion and surrounding areas were still the best venue for The Party. There just isn’t another inner-city space that is big enough for our audience that would allow an all-night dance party.
“Our challenge this year has been to evolve the party, bringing to life more areas with entertainment, introducing more bars and extended outdoor spaces. We also provided big screens in outside areas so the shows could be seen and heard by as many partygoers as possible.
“We’ve received some valuable feedback this year which will help us continue to develop and evolve the party experience.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the NSW Fair Trading Commissioner will investigate if the organisers breached Australian Consumer Law by misleading ticketholders.
“At the moment, it’s a bit hard to say categorically they’ve broken the law,” Fair Trading Commissioner Rose Webb told SMH.
She said it would depend on “how fine the fine print was” and if a reasonable person would have known their ticket didn’t guarantee seeing the headline performances.
“It’s just a matter of whether they made that clear enough.”
Featured image credit: Jeffrey Feng Photography
