Music festivals are big business in the United Kingdom and over the summer months, there is a wide range of festivals taking place. As soon as Easter is out of the way, the attention starts to turn towards big live music events, even if the first few events for May are held indoors in the burgeoning inner city festival market.

However, for most people, the festival season gets underway properly in June and this means camping, partying, having fun with friends and then seeing a lot of great bands. Even though there are a growing number of festivals for people to choose from, there are some hugely popular music festivals and the demand for tickets for these events dwarf the demand for many of the other events.

One of the biggest music festivals in the UK calendar is Bestival. This festival, held in September, is generally seen as the last big music festival of the year and it has developed an excellent reputation as being a festival that people can relax and have fun with. There is a great deal to be said for the fact that this is a festival with a relaxed vibe, which is set up with the fancy dress nature of the opening night. If you want to experience a festival that is not quite like all of the other music festivals you can enjoy in Great Britain, you will find that Bestival is the one to attend. Of course, you will need to snap up your tickets quickly because this is a festival that sells out well in advance of the festival taking place.

People are Desperate for Tickets

This has led to the situation where people are desperate for tickets. Sometimes festival holders cannot make it, which means that they can sell their tickets, often for an inflated price. Sometimes the price that people are willing to pay for a Bestival ticket entices some festival goers to part with their ticket and make a big profit. There will also be your usual touts who snap up these tickets as an investment opportunity. Festival and concert organisers are trying to find new and innovative ways to ward off these sellers, but there are always ways to avoid these preventative measures and sell tickets at inflated prices.

While no one really likes paying a higher price to a tout, if it is the only way that someone can get a ticket, there will be people paying the price. After all, if there was no demand, touts wouldn’t exist. The fact that there is an opportunity to make money means that there are people who are looking to capitalise on it, even when they don’t have tickets to sell. This can be seen in the arrest of an 18 year who has allegedly been accepting money for Bestival tickets without actually supplying them.

Ben Hyland-Ward hails from Brighton and he has been arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation. Over 60 complaints have been made about orders for tickets which have not been fulfilled. It seems as though the tickets have been offered at a large discount, and this really should have made people alert about the nature of these tickets.

Bestival is a festival that is in high demand and it would be possible to sell genuine tickets at face value, perhaps even with a premium on top. It is always good to get a bargain but the fact that these tickets were made available at a discount should have set alarm bells ringing. Clearly some people are willing to believe that some things aren’t too good to be true, which leads to the situation where people can commit fraud.

This is clearly a very serious crime to commit, and there is unlikely to be any sympathy for anyone who has carried out this act. When you add in the fact that the ticket buyers are likely to have made plans and arrangements regarding attending the festival, incurring more money, means that people who miss out on these tickets are likely to be largely out of pocket.

This is why someone facing these sort of charges needs to rely on a reliable and experienced defence solicitor. The work of an experienced fraud solicitor can make all the difference when facing serious charges and this is definitely a case where a severe punishment may be imposed on the accused if they are found guilty.

Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 9 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.