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COLUMBIA — Roughly 450 people picked up tickets to True/False film showings Thursday, with most customers buying multiple tickets, box office spokeswoman Afton Grier said.
About 1,080 tickets for the weekend were bought individually or distributed to passholders. *Passholders have already reserved tickets and can pick them up at any time. Grier said there are around 2,500 passholders this year.
- The crowd watches country singer and yodeler Brody Douglas Hunt perform at Cafe Berlin on Thursday. Hunt will play all four days of the True/False Film Fest this year.
- From left, Ryan Koenig, Mat Wilson and Joey Glynn of the Rum Drum Ramblers perform at Cafe Berlin on Thursday at the music showcase kickoff for the True/False Film Fest. This is their second year playing at the festival.
- True/False Film Fest kicks off the music showcase at Cafe Berlin on Thursday with bluegrass, blues and country music. Many of the bands will play multiple times throughout the weekend.
Development director Tracy Lane explained the main goal of the festival was to never sell out. A buffer of tickets is left at the door of events, and some exchanges will be available throughout the weekend.
"Attendees are really generous," she said. "If they realize they can't use a ticket, they return it to the box office."
This year, True/False Film Fest has added multiple showings for more popular films, providing more opportunities to see the films.
Earlier in the day, the upbeat sounds of Bramble, a folk-rock band from Salt Lake City, matched the energy of the crowd waiting in line for tickets to the True/False Film Festival.
Coffee and folding chairs were out and ready at 8 a.m. on the southeast corner of Ninth and Cherry streets, where the box office is located.
Approaching the box office, customers were greeted with bands playing and a numbered ticket to later join the line inside. Greg Herron received a number at 8:40 a.m. and had to come back to line up around noon.
He has attended the festival for the last couple years and said the line is the only hard part. "It's a little crowded, but I love the films," he said. "Once you get inside the theater and sit down, it's good."
David Wilson, co-director of the festival, said he thought everything was going well. Staff and volunteers ushered people in by groups of 50, and Wilson said he thought they could get 400 people in by 4 p.m.
By 2 p.m., box office directors had given out about 300 queue tickets. By then, the folding chairs were gone, and most of the people in line had dispersed.
Lane was calm and collected in the back room. Lane described the day as going "amazingly well and remarkably smooth."
"It's been going on so many years now that they've got it down to every detail," she said as she looked around for a place to knock on wood.
Eileen McGuinn, Cafe Berlin owner and event attendee, said the event was "very user friendly" but regretted not booking online beforehand. However, McGuinn only had to wait about 40 minutes before returning to the box office in the afternoon.
Events committee volunteer Allie Scott waited in line for some of her friends. She has been attending the festival for the past three years and is volunteering for the first time.
"It's just a really fun atmosphere," she said. "It's something unique that a lot of other towns don't get to experience."
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