**not hugely sports-related, but I did ensure I could include it in the NHL, Football and NASCAR sections....apologies if you're hoping to find a sports story but I had to share this with everyone since I find this disgraceful**
For three days in July (25, 26 and 27), the small town of Pemberton in British Columbia, Canada, will host an outdoor concert including such names as Tom Petty, Coldplay, The Flaming Lips and My Morning Jacket...a rather impressive feat for a town that has less than 2000 people living in it.
In fact, the only times Pemberton tends to get busy is when the Vancouver Canucks or the BC Lions are playing at home in the NHL or CFL respectively. I am yet to find out if they get any overflow from the Canadian Tire Series when they race in Vernon but I would imagine not.
Now, the organisers were nice enough to give the locals some $90 off ticket prices ($200 verses $290 for the rest) but had a limited number of 300 for them. A nice gesture right?
Wrong.
For reasons only known to the organisers, they elected to sell off the tickets to people who live in nearby Whistler...seems like Canada has a different perspective of the term 'local resident' to the rest of the world. The only excuse I can think of is that maybe they thought Pemberton wouldn't buy the 300 tickets which is extremely poor reasoning and shows a remarkable lack of faith in the host town. I understand that Whistler is less than 50 miles away, but to not give Pemberton first choice on the cheaper tickets is absolutely disgraceful and an outrage since I know the town has been buzzing with the news since finding out about the concert a few weeks ago.
But it could go deeper than that for Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. I wonder if they'll do the same for that; set aside a limited number of tickets purely for BC residents then fobb them off to the rest of the country before bothering to tell the 'locals'.
Not impressed, guys (John, you really should throw these morons under the bus next week, mate)...a very ####-poor way to treat a wonderful country town and I hope you get nowhere near the 40 000 people you expect to turn up over the three days.
Wow, that doesn't make any sense at all... I wouldn't even consider 50 miles local, just my opinion. If they're gonna give tickets to a town 50 miles away, then they should give away more than 300 considering that 2000 people live in the local town and they've been talking about it ever since they found out.
Interesting story Tez. If I was a resident of that town I'd be ticked off about those tickets being awarded to another town, which isnt going to be hosting (and getting the headaches) of the event.
Tezgm99; I am a resident of B.C. and not heard of discount tickets for the festival at Pemberton. I can tell you though, the Pemberton, Squamish area has typically been a retirement area for a large number of old folks who would most likely not be interested in such a large out-door event such as this, other than the HUGE revenue it will bring to local business. I'd be willing to bet this event will sell out regardless of ticket price, discounted or not. As for the 2010 Olympics, a number of tickets are set aside for locals(B.C. residents)but they are far short of what the demand will be I'm sure. Myself, I will be applying to Vanoc soon so as to not miss out on a once in a lifetime experience.
rebell10; hmm, can't say I totally agree with you about Pemberton being mainly a retirement area....every time I've been there, there's been a lot of younger people (in the range of 20-40), lol
I've only been in Squamish for 2 days so I'll just agree with you on that....planning on moving there in a couple months though so I'll soon find out :)
Tezgm99; I must admit I have not been to the area in a number of years as it is notoriously expensive and in my opinion, over rated. I can see how it is no doubt a changing demographic with all the hype of Whistler,and the upcoming games though.
I do know that for the last decade or so, it was virtually impossible for most of the workers to live and work there, (Whistler) most had to commute large distances or live in expensive closets.
I do feel for the folks of Pemberton if they got shafted out of discount tickets, but in the same breath, the average Joe in Whistler is certainly worthy of a bargain. JMO
I hope you enjoy your stay and new dwelling in Squamish.
YeeMum; I take it you wanted to know my geographic area? I am located just outside of Victoria on the south-east side of Vancouver Island.
Tez is a rare creature; an Australian who was living in New Zealand before moving to Canada. He's also a Civil Engineer who is hoping to spend his Monday to Friday sitting in front of a computer surfing the inter...uh, working hard for an Engineering Consultant or Contractor when he finds a job. His heart is torn between his two loves; F1 and NASCAR.
Due to his high interest in those, his blogs will likely focus on them with the occasional foray into sports that don't get much (if any) mention on this website. All blogs and/or comments will more than likely have his usual dollop of sarcasm and general Aussie spin on them.
Amazingly, he also managed to score 2 MiB nominations on consecutive days (August 5 & 6, 2007) after announcing he had been keeping track of them...he's considering hiding under his bed as a result.
