Bayreuth black market is stronger than ever

A survey by the German newspaper Handelsblatt finds that the black market in Bayreuth Festival tickets is flourishing.

The open sale of tickets increased this year from 40% to 65%. When the newspaper analysed ticket sales on Ebay it found that black market sales have risen too.

So far, 524 tickets have been sold on Ebay. This is already more than the entire total for the previous year, and the  Festival is still a month away.

The average premium on the original price has increased slightly from 136% to 139%. The highest surcharge (217%) is for the new production of  Der Fliegende Holländer. In comparison Tristan und Isolde tickets are fetching around 80% more than the original price.

For the cheapest tickets, costing less than 35 €, the average premium was 550 %. For the most expensive category, originally € 280, the corresponding uplift was 50%.

Comments

[Mark]

I'd have dreamt of such options when I lived in Nuremberg in 2001. Instead it was day after day in the returns queue. Still, at least it was warm most of the time.

[John]

As someone who's never been to Bayreuth, I'd be very curious to know from someone who has whether it's worth the money, particularly at these inflated prices. My impression is that it's a memorable overall experience but musical standards these days are wildly variable. Is that accurate?
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Intermezzo replies - Musical standards are no worse than anywhere else on average. Orchestrally speaking, they're generally better.

[Dave R.]

I noticed that a lot of the sellers on eBay blocked out their name on the ticket, presumably to keep the Festival people from know that they're selling their tickets. Has the Bayreuth Festival been checking names at the door (as I heard they used to)? I don't think the Festival's ticket order form says anything about prohibiting re-sale of tickets.