Tickets to the gala performance and demonstrations by Mainland Olympic gold medallists have sold out.

Director of Leisure & Cultural Services Thomas Chow said today as the URBTIX computer system was busy and many people queued at URBTIX outlets this morning, the processing time took longer than expected.

Admitting the URBTIX system is limited in handling demand surges, he apologised for the inconvenience and thanked the public for their understanding and co-operation.

Ticket allocation

In response to enquiries on ticket allocation, Mr Chow said up to 80% of tickets were reserved for public sale.

For the Hong Kong Stadium gala performance only 33,340 out of the 39,000 seats are reserved for spectators because 1,520 seats are in suites let to contract hirers and 5,000 seats on the south spectator stands have to be set aside for setting up a stage.

Of the remaining roughly 33,340 seats, 25,300 tickets were sold through URBTIX today and the remaining 8,040 tickets will be reserved for special groups and organisations.

About 2,400 tickets will be given to Hong Kong Olympic equestrian events volunteers while 1,900 will be reserved for the Mainland delegation and its major sponsors. About 1,100 tickets will be given to uniformed groups, 900 to summer youth programme participants, and 700 to performing groups and volunteers who will help in the show.

Under-privileged groups

About 600 tickets will be allocated to under-privileged groups through non-government organisations, 300 to Beijing Olympics volunteers and about 140 will be reserved for the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong.

For the demonstrations 4,331 out of 5,600 tickets were sold through URBTIX today and the remainder will be given to the Mainland delegation and its major sponsors, as well as other organisations such as District Councils, sports committees and the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong.