Ballot & ticket FAQs

For our 10th anniversary, we're expecting demand to be high. In some years Gaytimes has sold out in minutes, and demand for the Ballot has exceeded the total capacity of the festival.

To reduce the stress of buying a ticket, and make it fairer for everyone, we're offering 90% of full priced tickets in the Ballot. Everyone gets a chance, whether you're a Gaytimes veteran or a first time frolicker, and we can protect the diversity of our beautiful community.

You'll have nearly three weeks to register, and you can take the time to select what tickets you want. No queue at a certain time of day refreshing the page. No advantage for having faster internet. No risk of missing out because you weren't available on the day.

We're also aiming to protect the festival from scalpers, scammers and unethical resale practices.

While we give some weighting to protect the beautiful diversity of our existing community, including whether you've been before, the ballot is randomly selected, so everyone has a chance.

No one is guaranteed a ticket, particularly if demand exceeds capacity as in previous years, but we've tried to make the Ballot process and our ticketing fair and flexible.

When you register you choose one of two options. Both let you register for up to four festival tickets, plus glamping and transport.

Auto-purchase. You provide your payment details when you register. If you're drawn, your tickets and any add-ons are purchased automatically as a secure transaction through Airwallex from Humanitix, and you'll get a confirmation email. Nothing is taken if you're not drawn. If the payment can't be processed, you'll get an email from Humanitix and 24 hours to complete it.

Notify me. No payment details upfront. If you're successful, Humanitix emails you an invitation to complete your purchase, and holds your tickets for 24 hours only. Miss the window and your tickets go to the next person in the queue.

Same price either way. Buy now, pay later options are only available on notify me.

If you choose auto-purchase and you're successful, your card is charged automatically when the Ballot is drawn, and a confirmation email is sent to you.

You are not charged when you register, and you're only ever charged if you're successful.

No, it won't affect your chances.

The one risk is missing the email notification. If you don't purchase within 24 hours, your tickets are released.

Up to four festival tickets, as well as glamping tents.

We ask for the names of every attendee, not just the ticket purchaser. Names must match legal ID, as they're checked at the gate.

Yes, up until the Ballot closes on Sunday 13 September at 5pm. You can change the names, the number of tickets you want, or add a glamping tent, through Humanitix.

Once the Ballot is drawn you can only buy what you registered for, so get it right before it closes.

Yes. You need to register for the Ballot for Gaytimes 2027 even if you've attended before, registered in previous years, or you get our emails.

You'll be notified by email if you're unsuccessful, before the General Public Sale.

You can still buy any remaining tickets on General Public Sale on Wednesday 23 September at 12pm. If you miss out on both, you'll be added to the resale waitlist within Humanitix.

There's also more than one round. Any tickets not sold through the Ballot are released to the next person in the queue until the allocation is exhausted, so if you don't get a confirmation email on Wednesday 16 September you might still hear over the following few days.

All festival tickets cover the entire weekend and include free camping. Glamping tents, car passes and bus tickets are purchased separately.

• Early bird, first release. $445 + booking fee
• General release. $475 + booking fee
• Final release. $495 + booking fee

Early bird and general release sell through the Ballot. We hold back an allocation of final release for people who miss out.

Prices include GST. Humanitix adds a booking fee and some transaction fees depending on how you pay.

Yes. We're offering Humanitix's Pay in Instalments, along with AfterPay and Zip, so you can buy your tickets and glamping upfront and pay over time.

These are only available if you choose notify me. They can't be used with auto-purchase.

Set your accounts up with those providers in advance, and have a read of their terms and fees.

Camping is included with every festival ticket. Glamping tents, vehicle passes and bus tickets are separate.

Tickets are for the whole weekend. There's no single day ticket.

Resales open through Humanitix in November. We're not accepting resale tickets from other platforms such as Tixel at this stage.

Please beware of scammers and scalpers. Don't exchange money for Gaytimes tickets with strangers on social media. If you buy or resell a ticket anywhere except through us, we can't verify it.

For the first time in 2027 we're offering a cheaper ticket for people on low incomes, at $385 + booking fee.

It's for anyone on a low income, whether you're a full or part time student, a concession or healthcare card holder, a gig economy worker, in a low wage job, doing an apprenticeship, a full time creative or freelancer, or underemployed.

Applications open alongside the Ballot and close at the same time, through Humanitix. Low income tickets are awarded before the Ballot. If you're successful you'll be notified by email and have 24 hours to purchase. Buy now, pay later is available.

One ticket per person, and they can't be resold. We won't ask for proof of concession or about your circumstances. We do ask that you don't apply unless you can't afford a full priced ticket, so these stay with the people who need them.

Applying doesn't guarantee you a ticket, so you're welcome to enter the Ballot as well.

We offer heavily discounted or complimentary tickets for people in our community experiencing significant hardship.

Applications open in late September and stay open until January, and are assessed case by case.

We hold a separate allocation of tickets for First Nations people, by application.

If you're Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, email hello@gaytimes.com.au.

Volunteer applications open later in September. Volunteers get a ticket in exchange for working two shifts, and it's a great way to meet people. We'll put the details on our website and email subscribers.

Paid roles for experienced crew come up from time to time and go on our website and socials. They tend to be short term, seasonal casual or contract, as Gaytimes has no full time employees.

To register your interest in joining the crew, email hello@gaytimes.com.au.

Gaytimes is an 18+ licensed event. You can't attend if you're under 18, and you can't bring anyone under 18 with you, even with a valid ticket. Photo ID is required at the gate.

Gaytimes is a boutique festival with a strictly limited capacity of 1500. We like to keep things intimate.

Gaytimes 2027 is a ticketed event. Trespassers will be prosecuted or evicted. If you don't have a wristband, or you remove yours, you may be evicted, referred to police, or asked to pay for a full priced ticket.

Your ticket goes directly towards the cost of staging Gaytimes. Like every festival in Australia, our costs have risen with inflation and the cost of living pressure across the live music and events industry, so we've had to lift prices a little to keep Gaytimes going sustainably. Our prices are still in line with other small camping festivals and below a lot of the major ones.

Unlike much larger festivals with 10,000+ patrons to share the load, we cover everything with about 1500 paying punters: venue hire, staging, production and lighting, marquees, stretch tents, power, portable toilets, fencing, insurance, licensing, security, first aid, Dancewize, catering, cleaning, waste, traffic management, permits and planning, transport, creative, artist fees, and more than 70 paid crew.

Where many smaller camping festivals run a single stage, or only DJs, or two days, we programme live music, performing arts and activities across multiple stages indoors and out, with over 100 artists and 50+ live acts and DJs each year. Similar ambition to festivals more than twice our size.

Prices are also set so we can offer discounted tickets to people on low incomes, people experiencing hardship, and First Nations attendees.

Gaytimes is a community-run festival, self-funded almost entirely through ticket and bar revenue. We get no ongoing government funding, major corporate sponsorship or philanthropic support. We run it as a labour of love. We pay our crew, our artists and our suppliers, and we rely on a lot of generosity: given our size, international and major artists often play for well below their fee, and our key crew work on this for months for much less than they'd normally get paid. Nobody makes a profit from this. We do it for our community.