Peeping tickets to Bethlehem’s Peepsfest? You might want to check who’s selling.
Nearly 100 unauthorized tickets were sold to the annual Chick drop, which is run by the company who manufactures Peeps.
In a last-ditch bid for Pennsylvania’s weirdest scandal of the year, Peepsfest has entered the chat.
Counterfeit tickets were being sold to Bethlehem’s family-friendly, vaguely Easter-themed ball drop, affecting dozens of buyers, until earlier this week.
The 14-year-old tradition is a celebration of starting anew and marshmallowy bunnies, hosted by the Bethlehem-based Just Born Candies, the manufacturer of Peeps, Hot Tamales, and Mike and Ikes. The 4-foot-9, 400-pound Chick will drop at 5:35 p.m. at SteelStacks on Friday and Saturday (so the kids can get to bed before less G-rated festivities start), with crafts, live music, and candy tastings also on offer.
ArtsQuest, the nonprofit that oversees Peepsfest and the expansive music festival Musikfest, told The Inquirer they learned of the unauthorized ticket sales on Tuesday and contacted Eventbrite to have the page removed.
“If you purchased tickets via Eventbrite, we encourage you to reach out to them to get a refund immediately,” SteelStacks posted in a since-deleted Facebook post.
ArtsQuest spokesperson Shannon Keith said this was the second year Peepsfest had been ticketed, with cracks to catch the chick-a-palooza going for $5 a pop. Keith said fewer than 100 counterfeit tickets were purchased at face value through the Eventbrite page, which was taken down Wednesday morning.
The best way to buy tickets to Peepsfest is through SteelStacks’ website, per Keith, who encouraged jilted buyers to still do so after they were refunded.
Though Keith said bogus ticket snafus have not been a problem with previous ArtsQuest Events, this isn’t the only time ticketing drama has shaken the Lehigh Valley.
Reading-born pop star Taylor Swift sparked federal antitrust investigations into Ticketmaster after the platform botched presale for her much-awaited Eras Tour. Swifties reported price-gouging, website crashes, and overlong wait times before Ticketmaster canceled general sales, prompting Gov.-elect and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro to take on the ticketer.
Thousands of complaints were sent to Shapiro’s office from people who lost a chance to see Swift. As for those who might miss out on the novelty ball drop, we have yet to see the same.