Yulia, who lives in Moscow, told socialbites.ca that she had to “go through several circles of hell” while waiting in line to buy tickets and bracelets for the “Nutcracker” performance at the Bolshoi Theater. The woman noted that anonymous individuals unofficially distributed “coupons” to the crowd, allowing them to cross the line faster, and that law enforcement “clumsily” coordinated the crowd.
“Yesterday we witnessed the “Lost” show coming to buy bracelets – this is the first stage before buying tickets. You have to go through many hoops of hell before you get your coveted ticket to the Nutcracker. We stood there, I’m afraid to count how many hours. A group of young people gathered and began to coordinate the queue, and even then there were rumors of some kind of coupons, but the employees, management and organizers of the Bolshoi Theater had not issued any coupons. This whole story was organized by a group of people for illegal reasons. “Towards 23:00 the crowd of people begins to be coordinated by law enforcement officers, who do this quite ineptly,” he said.
According to Yulia, the danger level was “red” at the moment when she, along with other people, got stuck between the fence, and law enforcement officers did not help those who wanted to leave the line.
“We split into three groups, mine was pinned against the fence. Law enforcement officers were holding these fences, it was not clear how and in which direction we would go out. People started to gather together. At one point I didn’t even know where my bag was because it was impossible to reach my hand or my phone. At that moment I wanted to leave because the Nutcracker is not worth being under people’s feet. I tried to retreat, but we were stuck against the fence, there were riot police in front of us and men behind us. I yelled at law enforcement to help me get out, and the officer turned to me and said, “It’s my fault.” It is chaos to encounter such indifference and cruelty when buying tickets in Moscow in 2023. I am concerned about the health and safety of people, the attitude of law enforcement agencies and the management of the Bolshoi Theater towards this whole situation. Theater begins with this, not with the hanger. It’s okay if we didn’t get the wristbands. It’s scary when we fear that we won’t survive. “Because it’s red right now, there are different levels of danger,” he added.
Another Moscow resident, Victoria, in an interview with socialbites.ca said that her mother felt bad in the crowd, but they did not take her out “right away.”
“Love was hell. My mother and I arrived at 10:00 and got into the second row on the stairs behind the truck. We stood in an orderly line until about 19:00. Then the riot police removed all obstacles in the queues and completely stopped participation in the process. The crowd came forward and started. Some men were putting up unauthorized barriers so that everyone in the first row would be the last. The crowd carried my mother far ahead, right into the crowd. She felt bad. I called the police. A few employees came and only then did they call the riot police. Law enforcement “The forces did not take sufficient action to organize the queue. They just shouted: “Take a step back!”, which created an even stronger crush. After several requests, the staff even immediately removed my mother from the “queue”. I think there were about a thousand people in the crowd,” he said. he emphasized.
According to the girl, the unknown people handing out coupons in the queue were vendors.
Friday evening near the Bolshoi Theater created For the most popular pre-New Year shows on December 29, 30 and 31, there are a lot of people who want to buy bracelets to buy tickets to the Nutcracker show. According to one version, people began to put pressure when the administration announced that there would not be enough tickets for everyone who came. According to the Mash Telegram channel, one of the girls in love had a panic attack.
Direct sales of tickets using previously issued bracelets began on the morning of November 11.
Previously in Moscow detained People forming illegal queues to buy tickets to the Nutcracker.