‘Ticket Bank’ London Scheme to Give Free Gig Tickets

Unsold tickets to music gigs, theatre plays and comedy shows will be given for free to those who can’t afford to attend cultural events. As a cultural variation on food banks, a London scheme called Ticket Bank will make about 1,000 tickets available weekly to those struggling with the cost of living crisis. 

Set to be launched January of next year, the Ticket Bank will see some of London’s leading cultural institutions, like Roundhouse and Barbican participating in the scheme. More venues are expected to join in January.

The idea behind the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation program is that each participating venue will allocate its unsold tickets to Ticket Bank.

Tickets will work on a pay-what-you-can donation basis – which can be down to nothing – and will be distributed via a series of charity partners, including food banks, Centrepoint, and the Langford Trust. 

These organizations will provide low-income individuals with access codes that allow them to book tickets under the scheme. 

Co-founder of London’s Ticket Bank and artistic director at Cardboard Citizens Chris Sonnex told The Guardian that people suffering from the economic crisis need access to “community, entertainment and things that warm the soul.”

“Art is a human right. And the tighter things get with people’s finances, the more they will be squeezed out of art.”