North-east parents have been left “disappointed” after failing to snap up tickets for a school choir competition due to a box office blunder.
The Scottish Primary School Glee Challenge’s north-east regional final, which is organised by charity the Frisson Foundation, takes place at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen on April 26.
Nine north-east primary schools will be competing, including Brimmond, Burnhaven, Cults, Elrick and Milltimber.
Glee – which stands for Grow, Lead, Educate, Evolve – is long-awaited for the youngsters involved, with organisers describing the event as “inspiring Scotland’s children through song”.
However, the competition has been put into chaos due to ticketing issues for the final.
Parents say ticket system is ‘very unfair’
Tickets – costing £11 – were released for sale on Monday, however many parents were left frustrated after they sold out within an hour.
People were able to purchase up to nine at a time, when the maximum should be two per person.
Jennifer Ritchie told The Press and Journal: “This means that children will be performing without a representative to see them on stage. Some school choirs have next to no tickets at all.
“This all seems very unfair and not good for the choirs or schools who are performing. The whole ethos of the competition is to celebrate, encourage and support the choirs taking part.
“How will this happen if many cannot even get a ticket to the event?”
Mrs Ritchie blamed the “poor organisation” of the Beach Ballroom for letting the situation happen.
She also claims that schools will have to pay for additional transport home for the pupils if not all parents are able to get a ticket.
Clare Williamson also spoke to The P&J about the situation, describing the ticket situation as a “shambles” leaving “lots of angry parents”.
She added: “Half the schools have barely any tickets.”
‘This has taken us and the ballroom by surprise’
In response to tickets being sold out “extremely quickly”, the Frisson Foundation acknowledged on Facebook that they are giving the issue its “attention”.
They have limited who can comment on the post.
Urging ticketless families to “please bear with us”, they added: “Given the pattern of sales for the heats, this has taken us and the ballroom by surprise.
“We understand that part of the problem has arisen from some people making multiple purchases, i.e. exceeding the maximum of two per customer and the team at the ballroom are currently dealing with this.
“The Beach Ballroom obviously has limited capacity, but we will be exploring the options available to us over the next few days.
“We will update as soon as we can.”
The north-east sectionals qualifying event to reach the final took place between March 18 – 22 at the beach venue, with the Frisson Foundation describing the turnout for all five nights as being “first class”.
The school that wins next week’s event will go on to represent the region in the national final.
Aberdeen City Council, which owns and operates the Beach Ballroom, has been contacted for comment.
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