Ticketing Terms and Conditions

Updated: June 2024

1. Ticket sales
You can purchase tickets directly through What’s On Reading for all Reading Arts and Venues events and a number of other events for partners who have agreed to use the Reading Arts and Venues box office system.

The following terms and conditions refer to sales made through our box office solely to events held at Reading Arts and Venues. . For tickets sold to Non- Reading Arts and Venues events please refer to the relevant partner organisation’s terms and conditions of sale.

1.1 Conditions of Ticket Sales
All ticket prices are inclusive of booking fees. The booking fee applies to ticket purchases made with credit cards, debit cards and cash. Bookings made in person with a pre-paid debit card are not subject to a booking fee.

Bookings are not permitted that leave isolated seats in a row.

1.2 Tickets & Admission

A valid ticket must be produced for admission to an event. A valid ticket includes tickets printed by our box office for collection or sent via the post; e-tickets sent by our box office via email and printed off or shown on a smart phone; tickets sold and delivered by approved third-party ticket agents. For the avoidance of doubt digital tickets are not valid tickets.

Print at home tickets are not issued for standing events.

You may be asked to provide information to verify your purchase of tickets when collecting tickets, which may include booking confirmation email, photo ID, and/or the credit or debit card, used to make the order.

In respect of concessions, you may be asked to prove your entitlement to the concession.

We cannot replace lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed tickets.

Advertised start times are subject to change. Further, we reserve the right to alter or vary the programme or event due to circumstances beyond our control without being obliged to refund monies or exchange tickets unless the change is a material alteration.

Reading Arts reserves the right to reseat patrons to alternative seats, or change the original ticket delivery method selected when booking without prior notice and without being liable to pay any person any compensation or damage.
We regret that tickets cannot be exchanged or money refunded except as detailed in the Ticket Cancellations, Exchanges and Refunds section below. Returned tickets will only be offered for resale when an event is sold out. Your attention is brought to the conditions displayed at the Box Office and on the reverse of tickets.

Only tickets purchased from Reading Arts and Venues or official ticket agents will entitle you to enter the performance or event. Any forgeries or unauthorised tickets will be confiscated and entry denied to the performance or event.

Tickets remain the property of Reading Arts and Venues Management and subject to these Terms and Conditions. If a ticket is re-sold, transferred or advertised for profit or commercial gain by anyone other than the Management, Promoter, or an authorised ticket agent, it will become void and the ticket holder may be refused entry to, or ejected from, the event without refund.

You agree not to obtain or attempt to obtain any Ticket(s) through unauthorised use of any robot, spider or other automated device or any other illegal or unauthorised activity. We reserve the right to cancel any Ticket transaction which we reasonably suspect to have been made in breach of these provisions without any notice to you and any and all ticket(s) purchased as part of such transaction will be void.

Generally, every effort will be made to admit latecomers to a performance at a suitable break. However late admission cannot always be guaranteed.

The unauthorised use of photographic and/or recording equipment during a performance is prohibited. Any unauthorised photos, videos and/or recordings may be destroyed.

We reserve the right to conduct security searches of our patrons for safety and security reasons.

Whilst using the premises, you must comply with instructions issued by staff and stewards at an event. Failure to do so may result in a breach of our terms and conditions.

A breach of any of our terms and conditions or unacceptable behaviour likely to cause damage, nuisance or injury may result in you being ejected from the premises and prevented from booking future events.

Unacceptable behaviour includes, but is not limited to, behaviour likely to affect the enjoyment of other visitors, the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards other visitors or staff working at the event.

1.3 Ticket Cancellations, Exchanges & Refunds

All ticket purchases are final and cannot be exchanged or refunded after purchase. Refund Protection is offered on selected tickets for a small additional fee when purchasing event tickets through Reading Arts. Refund Protection is administered by TicketPlan Ltd and terms and conditions apply. By purchasing Refund Protection you are agreeing to the terms and conditions which can be found here https://whatsonreading.com/ticketplan-refund-protection

Refunds and exchanges are available in the event of a cancelled, abandoned, rescheduled Performance or where there is a material change to the event. A material change is a change which, in Reading Arts and Venues’ reasonable opinion, would make the event materially different to the event that the purchasers of the Ticket could reasonably expect and would include a change to the advertised headline act.

Refunds shall only be made to the person who validly purchased the Tickets and, where possible, by the same method used to purchase the Tickets. When it is not possible to refund via the same payment method Reading Arts and Venues reserves the right to request additional identification or documentation to ensure the money is returned to the correct person.

In the case of a cancelled event, customers will be refunded the face value of the Tickets and any associated booking fees they have paid.

In the case of a postponed/rescheduled event, customers will be offered alternative Tickets of the same value for the new date/time, subject to availability. Where it is not possible to offer Tickets of the same value then alternative Tickets may be offered. Should the customer not wish to accept these Tickets then a refund can be obtained for the face value of the Tickets and any associated ticket booking fees.

Any refund in the above circumstances must be claimed as soon as possible and in any event, no later than 28 days after the cancellation, reschedule or material change of an event. Any unused tickets must be returned before we are able to process a refund.

To contact the box office call us on 0118 9606060 or via boxoffice@reading.gov.uk, or in person at one of our box office locations.

Reading Arts and Venues reserves the right to cancel Tickets without refund which they reasonably suspect to have been booked fraudulently, which exceed any advertised limits on the quantity that a person/household can buy, or which they suspect to have been resold, or attempted to be resold, for financial gain. Any applicable restrictions on the quantity of Tickets that can be purchased will be made clear at the time of booking.

Reading Arts and Venues reserves the right to disable the account and cancel, without refund, any future bookings of anyone which they reasonably suspect to have been re-selling tickets.

At the discretion of Reading Arts and Venues, a waiting list may be kept for sold out events to assist customers who can no longer attend. Reading Arts and Venues may charge an administration fee for facilitating the transfer of Tickets from one customer to another.

1.4 E-Tickets

You may choose e-tickets at the point of purchase. However, it is forbidden to reproduce, duplicate or counterfeit the ticket in any way.

Only the first person who presents the ticket at the event will be admitted entrance; they will be presumed to be the lawful holder of the ticket. Keep your ticket safe. Use only an official sales circuit to buy your ticket. Never accept a ticket which is proposed by an unknown person, because it could be a copy.

1.5 Duplicate Tickets

Duplicate tickets may be issued at the discretion of Management in limited circumstances, for instance where tickets have been ordered by post and not arrived in time.

If duplicate tickets are issued, a reasonable administration fee may be charged.

Duplicate tickets must be requested no later than one hour before the show starts. If requested after this time we cannot guarantee duplicate tickets will be available.

Duplicate tickets will be released one hour prior to the show commencing. Due to security reasons duplicates cannot be collected in advance or re-sent. If duplicates have been requested, your original tickets will become invalid.

The cardholder must collect duplicate tickets and must supply the order number and original card used to purchase the tickets.

If you have purchased print at home tickets these can only be duplicated by Reading Arts and Venues box office on display of ID by the person making the booking.

It is not always possible to issue duplicate ticket(s). For example for non-seated events where there is a possibility of both the original and duplicate ticket(s) being used, compromising the licensed capacity of Reading Arts and Venues. Duplicates may therefore be issued at the discretion of the Promoter or the Venue.

2. Support Acts

At the discretion of the producing management, support acts may be used to start a show. Where agreed prior to going to press, this information has been shown in the brochure, however patrons are advised to enquire at the box office on the afternoon of the performance for latest information.

3. Online Sales-security policy.

Reading Arts and Venues online booking is a real-time secure booking service. Confidentiality of your personal data is guaranteed as we have built in the highest standards of encryption which ensures your personal data is stored and transmitted safely.

4. Phone Free Performance
If an event is advertised as a 'Phone Free Performance' this will be mandatory for all ticketholders attending the event. Phones will be required to be secured in a lockable pouch for the duration of the event and can only be unlocked and used in the designated areas. Customers using their phones inside the auditorium will be escorted from the venue. Please see https://whatsonreading.com/hexagon/your-visit for FAQ about phone free performances.

5. Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Coronavirus (COVID-19) remains an infectious disease that can result in serious and potentially fatal illness. The risk of transmission is increased where people gather together. Some people are at a higher risk than others. Although we are no longer implementing heightened safety measures, the risk cannot be entirely eliminated and, by attending the venue, you assume all risk associated with COVID-19,. The latest Government advice can be found HERE

Reading Arts reserves the right to re-introduce specific measures and conditions of entry relating to the control of Covid-19 and other infectious diseases if and when required.

By booking a ticket, patrons agree to:

Abide by all relevant government guidance at the time of the event;
Adhere to the Promoter and or venue specific terms of entry and protocols relating to the control of Covid-19 and other infectious diseases.
Abide by: all instructions given by our staff; our signage; and our full terms and conditions;

If you are unable to comply with any Promoter or venue terms, conditions or rules then the Promoter or venue operator may refuse admission or require you or other ticket holders to leave the venue and you may not be entitled to a refund.

Please do not attend the venue if you have a positive test result on the day of the performance. Please email the Box Office HERE at least 4 hours before the event to discuss your ticket options. After this time we may not be able to help.

If we are required by any government guidance or restrictions to cancel a performance, tickets may be exchanged or refunded as set out at section 1.3.

Please check the event pages for details of any specific conditions of entry as well as our Frequently Asked Questions. We will continue to review and update our policy and procedures following government guidance and industry best practice.