Reader: Scalpers and resellers snapped up GABF tickets

Tickets to this year's Great American Beer Festival sold out almost as soon as sales started yesterday. But the ire of would-be GABF-goers is just starting. Some are suggesting that scalpers were at work; others say they're giving up on the festival and starting their own...

By Patricia Calhoun

August 3, 2012

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Tickets to this year's Great American Beer Festival sold out almost as soon as sales started yesterday. But the ire of would-be GABF-goers is just starting. Some are suggesting that scalpers were at work; others say they're giving up on the festival and starting their own.

Says samurainigel:

They didn't sell out in "45 minutes." Tickets were locked up in less than five. News agencies reporting on this shouldn't be overlooking the fact that 49,000 tickets were sold out in LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES. This is the work of scalpers and other resellers, plain and simple, and is a snapshot of what happens when you have companies like TicketMaster running (ruining?) the show.

.

What would you do for a ticket to the GABF? Post your thoughts below, or join the conversation already under way here.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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