Drake’s OVO Fest is back in August after taking a year hiatus. Fans were beyond excited to snag a ticket to the festival to see acts like B2K, Mario, Pretty Ricky, Lloyd, Ying Yang Twins, Chingy, Bobby V, and Drake himself. Tickets officially went on sale Friday, July 12. After waiting in a long ticket queue, fans were disappointed to see general admission floor tickets up to $1,000, although that translates to a slightly less expensive price in USD than Canadian.
Those who tried to get tickets to the festival took to Twitter to express their discouragement. At first, people were astonished to see how many people were trying to get tickets at the same time.
https://twitter.com/jiaxo/status/1149683542395432960
https://twitter.com/RichardAGarner/status/1149681939676356610
Other fans felt that the amount was exorbitant and just outright refused to spend such an amount of money on tickets.
Lmfao! $500 dollars for lawn tickets to #OVOFest?! Is @Drake bringing Michael Jackson, Tupac, and Notorious B.I.G. back from dead? pic.twitter.com/YZymQlL8Q3
— Sora 🇰🇷 (@Notorious___KIM) July 12, 2019
Lawn = $500
Everywhere else= $1000The Budweiser stage holds 16,000 people and 7,000 on the lawn.
Lawn = 7,000 x $500 = $3,500,000
Everywhere else = 16,000 x $1,000 = $16,000,000How much money does one guy need…
— Lloyd Gebbie (@lloydgebbie) July 12, 2019
Yeah, I'm not paying $2,500 for one general admission floor seat. Sorry Drake. #OVOFest pic.twitter.com/NuY0hXHN9R
— Lauren O’Neil (@laurenonline) July 12, 2019
This a joke SMH #OVOFest pic.twitter.com/zKNmf2fQO5
— Z (@ZakkiyyaB) July 12, 2019
$500 lawn seat tickets? To sit on grass? #OVOFest pic.twitter.com/3Bm7avCG6X
— Dani | Money & Travel Tips 💸✈️ (@danicaSnelson) July 12, 2019
It seemed Ticketmaster was pricing differently for different days of the festival.
https://twitter.com/NigelDPresents/status/1149692741267255297
One fan said the ticket prices were inflating every time the page was refreshed.
.@Drake, I’m sorry but $5k for section 201 and $500 for a lawn ticket? AND the tickets keep getting more expensive with each refresh #OVOFest pic.twitter.com/5MoqixAQRo
— Martin Hoang Nguyen (@TheMartinNguyen) July 12, 2019
Ticketmaster coming up with the prices for #OVOFest https://t.co/TtDXWsqUyR
— NigelDPresents (@NigelDPresents) July 12, 2019
This year marks the 9th OVO Festival, and many reminisced on past years.
https://twitter.com/RicoPachanga/status/1149692920599056386
The wariness over Ticketmaster prices comes just a few short weeks after the company is getting hit with a $4.5 million fine for inflating prices. The Canadian Competition Bureau found Ticketmaster Canada guilty of “misleading pricing.” According to a press release, Ticketmaster inflated prices in some cases by 65% and their “advertised prices were not attainable because they added mandatory fees during the later stages of the purchasing process.”
Regardless of the price of tickets, the music portion of OVO Fest will take place on August 4th and 5th at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage. Prior to the Toronto music festival, Drake will host a workshop described as “an immersive conference for Canadian creatives and lifestyle entrepreneurs looking to grow their careers.” And because Drake is a huge basketball fan, the days leading up to the festival will also feature a basketball showcase.
