ALMATY – Around half of all tickets for American rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, sold out on the first day of presales for his Aug. 14 concert in Almaty, organizers announced on July 22.
Photo credit: The New York Times
The performance at Almaty’s Central Stadium is expected to become the largest music show ever staged in Central Asia and forms part of Ye’s world tour promoting his latest album Bully.
Presales, available exclusively through the Freedom SuperApp, attracted thousands of users within minutes of opening at noon. Organizers said the lowest-priced ticket categories sold out almost immediately, with ticket prices ranging from 120,000 tenge (US$222) to 350,000 tenge (US$648). To discourage ticket scalping, purchases during presales were limited to four tickets per customer.
Virtual queue introduced to manage demand
Organizers said the online waiting room used during the launch was not a technical failure but a standard queue management system widely used by major global ticketing platforms, including Ticketmaster, AXS, See Tickets and Eventim.
The system processes customers on a first-come, first-served basis while preventing platform overload during periods of exceptionally high demand. Buyers who completed their purchase received electronic vouchers, while tickets with unique QR codes will be emailed 24 hours before the concert on Aug. 13.
In response to strong public interest, organizers also launched Fan2Fan, an official resale platform operated through Ticketon.kz. The service allows ticket holders unable to attend the concert to resell their tickets securely. Once a ticket is resold, the seller’s voucher is automatically canceled, and a new voucher is issued to the buyer, who will receive the valid QR code before the event.
Organizers warned that tickets transferred outside the official platform cannot be guaranteed, as the final QR code will be sent only to the original purchaser.
Organizers describe the concert as the largest international music event ever staged in Central Asia and expect it to attract visitors from many countries, providing a boost to event tourism and reinforcing Almaty’s position as an emerging cultural destination in the region.
First Media Group is organizing the performance as part of its efforts to bring major international music productions to Kazakhstan. According to the organizers, the show will feature a full-scale stadium production combining music, visual art, stage design and advanced technology. The setlist is expected to include songs from Ye’s latest work alongside some of his best-known hits spanning more than two decades of his career.
