Short version:

* The Wickham got full

* People with pre-paid tickets, people who'd already paid and been in, and people who hadn't yet paid at all

* People with pre-paid tickets and people who'd already been in were told that the venue was "overcrowded" and they weren't allowed in/back in

* However, people who hadn't yet been in were being allowed in - paying their $15 on the way in. Admittedly, they were being admitted very slowly - but at least they were being admitted.

Clearly the Wickham was not interested in actual overcrowding issues; nor where they interested in fulfilling their obligations to pre-paid ticket holders; nor were they interested in providing the service they'd agreed to provide to people who'd already paid their cover charge - their priorty was assuring maximal income by maximising cover charge revenues.

I shan't be returning to the Little Gay Afternoon - not unless it finds a venue that can hold the crowd and management who care about their patrons at least a little.

(Aside from all this - the Wickham is in serious need of renovation, small, overcrowded, and generally crap. I won't be going back on any other occasion either...)

(There were ~500 people in the line outside. We were told that some of the people at the front had been waiting for over 4 hours to get in - I have no idea how long the people at the back would have had to wait, nor how long it would have been before prepaid/already paid ticket holders would have been allowed in)

Rant over.

(Yes, I was one of the people stuck outside not being allowed in. I'd paid my entry fee, I'd popped out for food as none was being served (at a 12 hour event! Just booze, no food! not even snacks!) and wasn't allowed back in. I'm not impressed. I've seen similar situations at Arq, where the venue becomes overcrowded - but Arq get their priorities right, and give preferences to patrons who have already paid)