“H.512 Means Curtains for Ticket Scams in Vermont” — And VTBF Agrees

Recently, the Vermont Arts Council published a blog post titled “H.512 Means Curtains for Ticket Scams in Vermont” — and at the Vermont Burlesque Festival, we strongly agree.

As producers of one of New England’s most uniquely recognized live performing arts festivals, we understand firsthand how important a fair and transparent ticket marketplace is for audiences, performers, venues, and independent event organizers across Vermont (and beyond).

Live events are built on trust.

When someone purchases a ticket to a performance, concert, festival, or community event, they should feel confident they are paying a fair price through a legitimate source. Unfortunately, deceptive and exploitative resale practices have increasingly made that more difficult for both consumers and independent arts organizations.

H.512 introduces commonsense protections designed to support Vermont audiences while still allowing individuals to resell tickets when plans change. The bill specifically targets deceptive commercial practices that artificially inflate pricing, create confusion, and siphon money away from local venues, artists, and event producers.

As the Vermont Arts Council wrote in their article, “Live events are the heartbeat of Vermont’s creative economy and our local communities.” (vermontartscouncil.org)

We believe that wholeheartedly.

Independent festivals, theaters, music venues, comedy shows, and performing arts organizations contribute enormously to Vermont’s cultural identity and economy. These spaces foster creativity, tourism, inclusion, storytelling, and human connection — things that are deeply valuable to communities across our state.

Organizations like the Vermont Burlesque Festival already operate within tight margins while balancing artist compensation, venue costs, insurance, marketing, staffing, and technical production expenses. A healthier and more transparent ticketing ecosystem helps protect not only audiences, but also the independent organizations working hard to create meaningful live experiences.

We appreciate the Vermont House and Senate for advancing H.512 with strong bipartisan support, and we respectfully encourage Governor Phil Scott to sign the bill into law.

The Vermont Burlesque Festival proudly supports H.512 because we believe live entertainment should remain accessible, transparent, community-centered, and protected from deceptive ticketing practices.

—Cory Royer Executive Producer Vermont Burlesque Festival