Published
Error in the systemGurten Festival sold thousands of tickets too many
There were hours-long queues at the Gurten Festival this year. Research now shows: An error in ticket sales led to too many tickets being issued.
- from
-
The Gurten Festival accidentally sold 7,500 too many tickets.
-
Those responsible requested a capacity increase from 25,000 to 32,500 people.
-
Two additional emergency exits have been installed to ensure safety.
The 41st edition of the Gurten FestivalS attracted thousands of music fans to Bern's local mountain from July 17th to 20th. The festival was completely sold out on Friday and Saturday, and there were even hours-long queues to get in on Friday.
Festival-goers wondered whether the long queues could be due to oversold tickets. However, the festival's media representatives publicly denied this several times.
As research by the “Berner Zeitung” (paid article) now reveals, everything probably didn’t go as planned: the Gurten Festival had given out 7,500 too many tickets.
A spontaneous application submitted promptly
This was noticed a few days before the start of the festival, whereupon those responsible submitted an urgent application for approval to the Bern-Mittelland government governor's office in order to increase the number of people at short notice. They asked for a one-time increase in the upper limit from 25,000 to 32,500 people, an increase in capacity by almost 30 percent.
According to festival boss Bobby Bähler, it was an error in the “transfer of the ticket quotas into the booking system”, which primarily had an impact on the partner tickets. Too many quotas were accidentally issued for Friday that should normally be allocated on the remaining days.
The municipality of Köniz agreed to the capacity increase despite safety concerns; the governor finally approved the event. The “security concepts submitted and the assessments requested by the authorities involved” had convinced her, she wrote at the request of the “Berner Zeitung”. There is no cause for possible alarm.
Additional security measures
Gurten Festival boss Bobby Bähler confirmed that two additional emergency exits had been created. In addition, individual areas of the site were expanded to be available in the event of a necessary evacuation.
Why wasn't this faux pas communicated to the population? The festival boss admits that she had discussed proactive communication internally, but had decided: “In the end, we were convinced that this would create uncertainty,” Bähler told the BZ. Now they regret this decision.
More visitors on the local mountain?
Research shows that the Gurten Festival may want to increase the visitor limit. However, when asked about this, Bähler did not take a clear position: “We are working on a concept with access and unbundling the flow of people,” but the route to the mountain is reaching its new limits.
Activate the Bern Push now!
Only with the Bern Push of 20 minutes can you get the latest news from the Bern, Freiburg, Solothurn and Valais regions delivered to your cell phone at lightning speed.
Here's how it works: In the 20-minute app, tap “Cockpit” (three lines with a circle) at the top right. There click on “Notifications” and then “Continue”. Then mark “Bern” under the regions, type “Next” again and then “Confirm”. Voila!
We are also on Instagram. Follow us for articles, stories and competitions from the region – and send us your pictures and entries: 20 minutes Bern Region.
Have you been following on Whatsapp for 20 minutes?
A news overview in the morning and at the end of the day, surprising stories and breaking news: Subscribe to the 20 Minutes WhatsApp channel and you will receive regular updates with our best stories directly to your cell phone.
