Brisbane mother Kirsty McDonald has slammed concert organisers after she was told she’d have to purchase her four-month-old son a ticket to bring him to Ed Sheeran‘s show.
As the ABC reports, McDonald is currently breastfeeding her son Leni and refuses to bottle feed due to a lip tie. She bought tickets to Sheeran’s now sold-out Brisbane show when her son wasn’t even born yet but has now been told she can’t bring him unless she buys a ticket.
“There is no free on the knee for this event — all patrons must have a ticket,” they wrote to her after she enquired.
She’s labelled the response she received as “ridiculous” and said she was “quite angry”.
“They might have their reasons, but they didn’t give me any reasons. It was short and sharp,” she said.
She further said that she’s been allowed to take him to sporting games including Rugby League and “assumed” it would be okay for Sheeran’s show.
“He’s not taking up much room,” she said.
The company touring Sheeran, Frontier Touring, has defended the decision, citing safety reasons.
“Part of the reason that we require people to have a ticket is knowing exactly how many people are in the venue, which is primarily for a safety reason,” they told the ABC.
They also discouraged punters bringing children of a similar age to concerts because of “loud noises”.
As the event is now sold out McDonald is unable to bring Leni to Sheeran unless she purchases a resale ticket at an “exorbitant price”.
Adelaide mother Sarah Lehman has responded to McDonald’s story saying that she had no issues bringing her 6-month old baby in without a ticket.
“I would be furious if I was her … I’m really angry,” she said.
Sheeran’s current Australian tour is due to make its way through Brisbane on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
UPDATE: In a further statement, Frontier Touring says:
“Frontier Touring and many of the major venues in Australasia have a policy of discouraging infants from attending concerts. The majority of concerts we promote feature loud music, strobe lighting and often loud pyrotechnics. It cannot be compared to taking a child to a sporting event.
“To date Frontier Touring have not enforced an absolute ban on infants as we respect the right of a parent or guardian to act in the best interest of their child. We do however enforce the requirement of a ticket purchase for every patron as both a safety and security measure and out of consideration for all attending patrons.”
