Comedy fans slam ‘shambolic’ festival after £20 tickets didn’t cover acts including Jimmy Carr and Katherine Ryan
Ticket-holders at Comedy Central Live! in Southampton were shocked to discover that they needed extra tickets to see some individual big-name performers
FANS slammed a “shambolic” comedy festival after discovering their £20 entrance fee only gave them access to a field - and that free tickets to see individual acts had all gone.
Ticket-holders attending Comedy Central Live! in Southampton on Saturday said they weren’t told they needed additional tickets to see performers which included headliners Jimmy Carr, Russell Howard and Katherine Ryan.
And with many tickets quickly snapped up, plenty of paying punters were left standing in the mud and rain with little to laugh about.
Organisers even shut the box office windows after furious comedy fans began demanding refunds on their entry fees.
Comedy Central said customers were told tickets for acts were not guaranteed, and that they were "informed at the time of purchase - and reminded subsequently" they would need extra tickets.
But many who attended the festival took to social media to vent their frustrations.
Writing on Twitter, Georgia May Felton said: “How can you justify selling tickets for an event to then make everyone [queue] up again for another ticket!
“You’ve charged people to stand in a field!”
Rebecca Brown added: “Arrive at Comedy Central Live #southampton @ComedyCentralUK @Go_Southampton and can't get into any of the tents to see any of the shows.
“Stood at the box office with everyone else for a refund and they shut all the windows #shambolic #sortitout”
Another angry visitor said: “Well @ComedyCentral live Southampton's management did a p*** poor job tonight.
“Kinda funny how the production team ended up hiding in the box office from customers though.”
The three-day event, held at Southampton’s Hoglands Park, also featured Russell Kane, Lee Nelson and Luisa Omielan.
A line on the festivals website says: “Every show ticket gives you full access to an all-day stand-up stage featuring our favourite emerging comedians.”
But visitors said it wasn’t made clear that other shows were ticket only events - and that not everyone would be able to gain entry once inside the venue.
In a statement, Comedy Central said: "We are very sorry to hear that a small number of ticket holders were unhappy with their experience at Comedy Central Live.
"Thousands of people have attended and enjoyed the event this weekend – with over 70 of the UK’s biggest and best-known comedians performing, we believe a standard daily ticket to the festival, priced at just £20, represents fantastic value for money.
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"In order to manage excess demand to main stage shows and to ensure the health and safety of ticket holders, we asked those wishing to see main stage performances to collect an additional ticket, at no charge, to guarantee them access to the main stage.
"Unfortunately, because of the large number of tickets involved, this required them to spend some time queuing in inclement weather conditions, for which we apologise."
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