6,000 Tickets Sold for Dark Lord Day 2011

The Full Pint is in full on Dark Lord Day Mode! Read on about this past weekends 3 Floyds DarkLordDay 2011’s ticket sale, as well as official word from Munster, IN’s Police Department. Cheers, TFP!

The Ticket Sale

This past weekend, 3 Floyds Brewing held their annual “Golden Ticket” sale for Dark Lord Day.  Unlike last year, this years event is supposed to be more limited and exclusive, in order to keep the event more organized, and to maintain safety in the small town of Munster, IN.  It was stated by 3 Floyds that the ONLY way to gain entrance to DLD 2011 would be to have a ticket, and that no ticket would mean you are not permitted on 3 Floyds grounds. It’s estimated that 10,000 people gathered at 3 Floyds last year, and as expected, the mix of alcohol consumption and a large mass made for safety issues that Munster Police did not want to deal with in the future.

Two hours before the online sale started, 3 Floyds posted the ticket site URL on their Facebook, Twitter, their 2 websites, Rate Beer, and BA. TheFullPint.com weren’t able to receive promotional tickets to use or pass out, so like everyone else, we had our finger on the trigger at 1PM Indiana Time to hopefully get our way into Dark Lord Day this year. At the stroke of 1PM Indiana Time/ 11 AM The Full Pint Time, you could feel the ticket site come to a complete crawl.  I had put my credit card number on copy and paste so I could quickly enter that. As I watched the page slowly go from one page to the next, I was worrying the site would crash and I’d be out of luck. After filling out my address, I screamed at my screen as there was no field to enter City and State. After the slowest refresh of all time, a button appeared taking me to a popout, that allowed me to enter this. Very nerve wrecking I know.  To make my anxiety even worse, there was a stop watch on the top right hand of the site, counting down from 12 minutes. Luckily I checked out just fine, and within minutes, I got phone calls from all over, telling me this was sold out in under 4 minutes. So much for that 12 minute count down.

After strolling onto my Facebook page and RateBeer’s forum, there were plenty of sad folks who did not get the tickets, and even claimed after having the tickets in the shopping cart, they were denied. I even had one lady tell me it made a difference depending on what web browser they used (Firefox on Mac for me).

The Scalping Begins

Minutes after the sale ended, reports of after market sales surfaced. Stubhub.com had DLD tickets going from $150.00 all the way up to $350.00.  The trade boards on both Rate Beer and BA were flooded with offers to get the tickets or to unload the tickets. Keep in mind, there is a slim chance the actual tickets have been printed yet.  3 Floyds has/had the ability to curtail scalping, but managing that many tickets is way above their capability. It’s also the nature of ticket sales unfortunately.  There are folks who feel this is bad for craft beer, however you could have seen this coming a mile away. Hopefully tweaks will be made in future years.

6,000 Tickets Sold and Word From The Police

While we couldn’t get word from 3 Floyds on how many tickets were sold, we were able to talk to our friends at The Munster Police Department. The Munster PD is largely responsible for the drastic changes to the Dark Lord Day format this year, as every year, this cult like, Grateful Dead/Star Trek convention beer bash gets bigger and bigger.  The first question I asked was how many people has 3 Floyds claimed to have sold tickets to, in which Lt. Curtis Matz replied “6,000.” I was told early today by a tipster 1,200, but 6,000 was the approximation coming from Lt. Matz.  In shock, I asked how many were there last year, and his estimation was closer to 10,000.  I was so overwhelmed and happy last year, that I didn’t really consider I was 1 of 10,000.

When asked how 3 Floyds and The Munster PD will handle the new format, he explained that the perimeter of the event will be closed off. Simply, anyone who has a ticket, will be able to gain entrance, anyone who doesn’t have a ticket, will not be able to gain entrance. I explained to Lt. Matz about the great possibility of scalping, he said he anticipated that as well, but that soliciting, loitering, and most importantly public drunkenness and public intoxication ordinances will be enforced.  Because Munster PD only has so many resources, 3 Floyds will be relying on private security as well.

As for parking and camping out, this will be heavily enforced as well.  In previous years, it was a free for all for parking, and fest goers would park on private property. This year, it will be prevented to the best of their ability.  Here is an email that Bobby “Gunfire” Sullivan sent us from Munster PD in regards to those who are considering camping out or parking their RV near the business park 3 Floyds is in:

Community Message has been issued by the Munster Police Department.
Monday March 21, 2011 11:50 AM CDT
Recreational Vehicle restrictions in place for Dark Lord Event. No overnight camping allowed.#DLD
RV RESTRICTIONS FOR DARK LORD EVENT

Due to anticipated traffic congestion, recreational vehicles will not be permitted on the streets adjacent to the Dark Lord festival at Three Floyd’s Brewery on April 30th. In addition, RV’s will not be permitted to park on the town streets adjacent to the event or in any town parks during this event. The Munster Police Department will be enforcing local ordinances prohibiting overnight camping on streets or in town parks. The town suggests persons with campers or other recreational vehicles to make camping arrangements at local campgrounds prior to the event. For full details, go to https://local.nixle.com/alert/4668791/?sub_id=485788.
Contact Information:
Steven Kovacik
Administration
219-836-6636 [email protected]

Stay tuned here at TheFullPint.com as we dig for all the Dark Lord Day info we can gather.