TICKET SALES FOR the 2016 Spirit of Speyside Festival have set yet another record high of 2700 within just an hour of their launch this week.
Sales valued at just short of £75,000 were recorded in double-quick time on Tuesday – with transactions in the first ten minutes equalling the level they took an hour to reach in 2015.
As a result over 60 of the events in the packed Festival programme are already sold out – and many more have very limited availability.
The Festival, which this year begins on April 28, will see visitors arrive in Moray/Speyside from throughout the UK, Europe and North America – joined by whisky lovers from as far as Bahrain, Australia, Japan and India who have been snapping up tickets on the opening day of sales.
Festival manager Pery Zakeri said that even though they suspected there would be record sales, the phenomenal demand has taken everyone surprise – and is showing no sign of slowing down.
She said: “We have had ticket sales from a total of 22 different countries and in the first 24 hours of going live we had reached a sales value of over £91,000.
“I think this just goes to show how eagerly anticipated the Festival is this year. We have garnered a fantastic reputation for putting on a world class event, and people are making sure they get in early to get tickets for the activities they really want.
“As with previous years, the exclusive distillery tours have sold out first. The real whisky aficionados are always looking for very special experiences that are only available at the time of the Festival, so tours of distilleries not normally open to the public, such as Strathmill and Dalmunach, were snapped up within minutes.
“However, with 467 different events on the programme from whisky tasting and blending experiences and from heritage walks to traditional ceilidhs, there are still plenty of tickets available.
“The beauty of the Spirit of Speyside Festival is that it is small enough to be incredibly friendly and welcoming, but big enough so that there is something for everyone. But we’d urge anyone thinking about coming to book their events soon as tickets are selling very quickly indeed.”
Tickets for all events in the 2016 Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival programme are available to buy now at www.spiritofspeyside.com