Patrons attending events at Hamilton’s H3 venues are again being urged to ensure they purchase tickets from official vendors as resellers offer event tickets at inflated prices.

Hamilton City Council’s Events and Venues General Manager Sean Murray says tickets for Mary Poppins are being offered at increased prices through the unofficial ticket sales website Viagogo. Mary Poppins is set for a season at Claudelands from late November into early December, and is being produced by Hamilton Operatic Society.

Mr Murray says there are ongoing concerns in the event and entertainment industry about Viagogo, which offers a plethora of event tickets at prices often well beyond the actual asking price.

“Viagogo is not an official ticket seller for events held at Claudelands,” Mr Murray says.

“We are urging patrons attending events to make sure they purchase from Ticketek, the official vendor for tickets to events at our venues.”

Buyers purchasing tickets from Viagogo run the risk of paying more than face value for tickets, or arriving at an event to find the ticket is invalid and they are not entitled to a refund.

Fiona Bradley, Hamilton Operatic Society Chair, says the society has strived to keep the cost of the show to an affordable level and sites such as Viagogo are compromising that.

“Viagogo is offering tickets for Mary Poppins at prices well beyond what we have set,” she says. “Another concern for us is that potential patrons will see those exaggerated prices, be put off by them, and not come to a show we’ve put a lot of time and effort into producing.”

“We’re a community theatre group and we want Hamiltonians to come and enjoy our shows – and unofficial ticket sellers are undermining that important aspect of what we do.”

Mr Murray says event patrons can buy their tickets from Hamilton i-SITE, which is an official ticket vendor for events held at H3’s venues – Claudelands, Seddon Park and FMG Stadium Waikato.