Splendour Blender

The Splendour In The Grass festival in Queensland faced the ultimate first-day sale nightmare.

Traditionally, its 30,000 tickets disappear in the first few hours of going on sale.

This year’s event was expected to be no different, with the likes of Coldplay and Kanye West doing exclusive Australian appearances.
But on May 5, online agency Moshtix’s system failed to keep up with demand.

Further, an external day-long computer meltdown affecting Westpac and St. George banks meant that frustrated customers could not use credit cards from these banks to buy tickets.

It didn’t help that the festival was using Westpac to process payment.

Sales were suspended at midday for 24 hours.

But promoters Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco revealed that a break in sales short-circuited momentum, and tickets were still selling two days later.