Free festival tickets at the Ring resold on Marktplaats
All morning, thousands of Amsterdam residents have been frantically trying to get their hands on a ticket for the festival on the ring a10 on 21 June, in which the UvA is also participating. Although the tickets for the party are free, the first ones are already being resold for exorbitant prices on external platforms such as Marktplaats.
It was extremely busy this morning in the digital queue for the party on the A10 ring road in honour of Amsterdam's 750th anniversary. Ticket sales started at 10 a.m., but it soon became clear that getting a ticket was not a sure thing. This is not surprising, as there are only 280,000 tickets available, while the municipality estimated that around 680,000 people would want to attend the party.
The first tickets are now being offered for sale at substantial prices on resale websites. On Marktplaats, tickets are being offered for 50 euros, and tickets are also flooding X, with prices rising to nearly 100 euros. However, according to the festival organisers, these tickets will be invalidated. How this will be done is not yet clear. The municipality's appeal on Instagram is therefore: do not buy these tickets. Incidentally, the resale cannot involve the actual tickets, as the 280,000 lucky ones will only receive a confirmation email for now; the tickets themselves will only be released shortly before the start of the festival.
The various time slots and motorway slip roads also seem to be selling out rapidly. This could be due to the fact that the maximum number of tickets per person could easily be circumvented by using different telephone numbers. The website does not seem to be able to cope with the large number of visitors. Several people have reported on social media that they encountered error messages during the purchase process or were kicked off the site without tickets.
A press release is now circulating online claiming that all tickets issued are invalid and that sales will start again. However, according to the organisation, this is a fake message.
UvA participation
During the festival on the Ring, the UvA and other Amsterdam knowledge institutions will jointly present the ‘City of the Future’ – a zone with interactive activities about a liveable future for Amsterdam. The UvA is organising six activities in zone West. Visitors can take part in the Agree\Disagree quiz, which includes statements such as whether the Pijp is nicer than the Jordaan. With the Amsterdam Time Machine, you can discover what your neighbourhood used to look like, based on historical maps, photos and stories. In the Wensput Amsterdam 2050, you can leave your dream for the future of the city. The Grote Amsterdamse Vogel Spel (Great Amsterdam Bird Game) introduces you to the life of birds in and above the city in five challenges. You can also chat with an AI avatar of an Amsterdammer, such as Johan Cruijff or André Hazes. Finally, there is the Natuurkundekermis (Physics Fair), where students from the UvA take you on a journey through physics experiments.
