Queues for tickets to “The Nutcracker” have formed in front of the Bolshoi Theater again.

MOSCOW, November 10. People again lined up in long lines to receive bracelets to buy tickets to the Nutcracker ballet at the Bolshoi Theater, the correspondent reports .
Earlier, the Bolshoi Theater published a special pre-sale program for tickets for performances of the ballet “The Nutcracker” on its official website due to increased demand for the performance. According to the sales schedule for performances on December 29-31, they will start on November 11 and 12 at the box office and on the website, respectively.

A huge queue of people wishing to purchase tickets for the ballet “The Nutcracker” has again formed: in order to enter the box office, you must first obtain a bracelet with a number. A stampede has already begun in the crowd, some participants are leaving the line, but eyewitnesses say that reports of injured and hospitalized people are not true.

One of the shoppers reported that she was standing in line for a bracelet from 6 am for the sake of my dream — to watch the ballet «The Nutcracker» on New Year's Eve. “I’ve been standing here since 6 in the morning, then my mother finished work and also came here… (We want to go to the Nutcracker, because it’s our — ed.) dream — on December 31, immediately after the performance, to come home before the chimes,” she said .
According to her, 400 bracelets will be given out on Saturday night, and ticket sales will begin at 10 a.m., when the theater box office opens.
Another ticket buyer who will be the first to receive a bracelet today said she has already spent 59 hours in line to get her bracelet. “I spent 59 hours here. I didn’t leave, I slept here on wooden pallets… I took medicine and a whole bag of food with me. Other people (from the queue — ed.) treated me to pizza, burgers, and pies, carried blankets, seats , benches, felt boots,” she noted.
It is reported that riot police arrived at the Bolshoi Theater to control the situation.

Problems with the formation of a queue for bracelets began on November 3 — on the eve of the start of ticket sales for the first performances on December 23-28. On November 4, even before the box office opened at 10 am, huge queues had already formed in front of the Bolshoi Theater.

Later, advertisements appeared on Avito for the sale of tickets and bracelets for places in the queue, the price ranged from 15 to 50 thousand rubles, the service blocked these advertisements. Another ad offered pre-order tickets to The Nutcracker. A certain agency promised tickets with an advance payment of 50% of the total cost.
The head of the State Duma Committee on Culture, Elena Yampolskaya, previously stated that an appeal from the State Duma Committee on Culture was sent to the General Director of the Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Urin with questions about the situation with the sale of tickets for the ballet «The Nutcracker» . In an official response, the director of the Bolshoi Theater replied that the Bolshoi Theater annually improves the ticket sales system for popular performances.