Music Festival Bookings

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31195, 20 October 1966, Page 16

Music Festival Bookings

Sir, —Concerning the final evening performance of the schools’ music festival, it seems hardly fair that one person, using one preferential booking card, can buy a whole block of over 100 seats —in the best part of the theatre, of course—while the rest of the patient parents of performers get what they can. Perhaps there is no “scalping” intended, and block purchasers are merely buying on behalf of those who are too indolent to queue up, but surely a reasonable limit could be set on each buyer. If not, next year should see

an interesting situation when the other half dozen of us block buyers arrive to join this new game of “Beat Your Neighbour,” with a musical accompaniment, naturally!— Yours, etc., ACRID BILK. October 14, 1966. [Mr R. S. Jenkins, president of the Schools’ Music Festival Association, replies: “The practice of block booking of seats is approved not only to provide a service to parents where arranged, but also to enable parents of any school to be together should they so wish. At all times every courtesy and consideration possible is extended to patrons, and it is confidently felt that the correspondent would have received complete satisfaction. I shall be pleased to discuss any further aspects if the correspondent contacts me directly.”]