If you go
What: Dalai Lama in Boulder, Oct. 20-21
Where: Coors Event Center, University of Colorado campus
When: Oct 20: The event for CU students and staff will be at 1:30 p.m. CU students will be able to claim one free ticket each on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 9 a.m. Sept. 19 in the Glenn Miller Ballroom at the University Memorial Center, 1669 Euclid Ave. A number of tickets also will be made available to CU staff and faculty for $20 each.
Oct. 21: The Dalai Lama will deliver two public speeches, one on the “Eight Verses of Training the Mind” from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., and the other on “The Wisdom of Compassion: Creating Peace, Happiness and Meaningful Lives in the 21st Century” from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Cost: Tickets range from $35 to $100.
Remaining ticket sales: 8:30 a.m. Monday at dalailamacolorado.com
Tickets have been moving fast for the Dalai Lama’s visit to Boulder in October, but organizers are urging patience as they try to cope with intense demand for the Tibetan spiritual leader’s two public speeches.
After reviewing each sale made so far, organizers say between 2,500 and 3,000 tickets should still be available for the public events Oct. 21 at the Coors Event Center.
Those remaining seats, which go on sale at 8:30 a.m. Monday, will be split between all-day and single-event tickets, according to Ani Tenzin Lhamo, who is working with the Tibetan Association of Colorado to plan the Dalai Lama’s visit to Boulder.
The Tibetan Association of Colorado and University of Colorado Student Government worked together to bring the Dalai Lama to Boulder for two days this fall. The two speeches on Oct. 21 are open to the public. The Dalai Lama is also speaking on Oct. 20 during a closed event for CU-Boulder students and employees.
Lhamo said she has received hundreds of calls and emails from people who are desperate to see the Dalai Lama but haven’t been able to get tickets yet.
“We are so sorry for the frustrating experience that people are having and that there aren’t more seats available,” she said. “It’s not out of ill will or carelessness or prejudice toward the wealthy. It’s simply the limitations that we’re dealing with and the size of the venue.”
The association first sold sponsor tickets, which ranged in price from $250 to $2,500. Those tickets sold out in two days.
Lhamo refuted comments she’s heard from people who say the Tibetan Association of Colorado is prioritizing wealthy people over other attendees. She said the association has limited resources and needed to sell the sponsor tickets first to help with expenses, which are likely to total at least $500,000.
“The sponsor tickets went on sale first because the people that are so kind to buy those seats are actually the financial backbone of the event,” she said.
Next, organizers sold a limited quantity of group tickets so that large groups could find seats together before individual tickets went on sale.
On Monday, a limited number of individual all-day tickets made available by the association sold out in 20 minutes, she said.
Lhamo said she understands that people are frustrated, but she and other organizers are looking in every corner of the arena to find available seats. They recently decided to open up an additional 1,000 seats with partially obstructed views, which will go on sale with other remaining tickets Monday.
Lhamo said she hopes people understand that the demand for Dalai Lama tickets is unlike that of any concert, sporting event or performance — people are traveling thousands of miles from all over the world to see him.
“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “People are saying things like, ‘I waited my whole life to see the Dalai Lama and this is my one chance; I’ve got to get a ticket.'”
Jesse Bussard, who is traveling to Boulder from her home in Bozeman, Mont., to see the Dalai Lama, said she had a bit of trouble purchasing two all-day tickets Monday but was ultimately successful.
She said it wasn’t clear to her which tickets were already sold out and which were still available, so she had to play around a bit on the Coors Event Center ticketing website.
“It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I might as well take advantage of it,” she said. “I subscribe to Buddhist philosophy in my life and just really have always wanted to hear him speak live.”
Others are hoping to snag seats when the remaining tickets are made available Monday. Ellie Landau, a Boulder resident still hoping to get tickets, said the event website was confusing with all the different types of tickets and release dates.
“I was just very overwhelmed,” she said. “Just tell me when I can get tickets. It’s just so confusing; everybody wants to see him. It’s the Dalai Lama.”
Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta
