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Warnings of price gouging on Balloon Fiesta tickets [Video]

If you’re looking to buy Balloon Fiesta tickets, be wary of where you’re getting them. One man found he was paying double the price of what they should be. With thousands coming for the event, the president of the International Balloon Fiesta, Judy Nakamura, said they try to make this as accessible as possible and to be wary of tickets that are above $15. On Tuesday, a viewer contacted the Target 7 tipline saying he bought two tickets for $70. He found those tickets in an online search, looking up Balloon Fiesta tickets, and was sent to an online third-party website. “It’s very unfortunate. It’s not something that we approve of, particularly because we try to make sure tickets are affordable for people to get into Balloon Fiesta,” Nakamura said. “You never have to worry that we’re going to run out of space. We have over a 70-acre launch field out here. There is plenty of room to accommodate people who want to come to balloon fiesta.” There are three places you can buy tickets: on their website, outside the park at the ticket booths and the Balloon Fiesta gift shop.”We do not condone ticket resellers; we don’t sell batches of tickets to anyone else to sell the tickets for us,” said Nakamura. However, price gouging has happened for other big events around town. In May, a similar ticket price changes targeted the New Mexico Ballet Company. Target 7 learned they weren’t alone. Opera Southwest and the New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus also said patrons were overcharged for tickets. Our legal expert, John Day, said there’s not many people can do. “You can scalp tickets to high school events, other cultural events pretty much anything you want and it’s not illegal,” Day said. “A lot of other states have made laws that make that illegal, but New Mexico is not one of them.” Day said in New Mexico, ticket scalping is only illegal for college athletic events. General admission prices are $15, and children 12 and under are able to get in for free. When you pay online with a credit card or at the booth, there will be a $1.50 charge.