Bayeux Tapestry ticket sales surge past blockbuster film openings

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 26 Oct, 01:01 · Archive

Bayeux Tapestry ticket sales at the British Museum outpaced major film openings, with customers spending £14,100 in the first hour.

The Bayeux Tapestry has attracted unprecedented demand at the British Museum, with ticket sales data showing the exhibition outpaced major film releases and typical Saturday nights out combined. When the second tranche of public tickets went on sale at 10am on Wednesday, thousands joined an online queue to secure access to the 1,000-year-old embroidery.

Monzo's spending data across its 16 million customers revealed the scale of demand. In the first hour, cardholders spent £14,100 on tickets—double the opening-day spending for blockbuster films The Odyssey (£7,000) and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (£6,300). Average spending per transaction was £97, five times higher than Spider-Man's opening morning average of £19. Over the first two hours, total spending reached £30,500, which was 60% more than the combined average Saturday night spend between 8pm and 4am across six major UK nightlife venues including Koko, Fabric, Roundhouse, Lakota, Thekla and Sub Club. The launch triggered payments to the museum of 48 times that of a normal Wednesday morning.

The tapestry, which depicts the Norman Conquest and returned to the UK for the first time in almost 1,000 years, has drawn comparisons to ticketed events like Glastonbury Festival and the Oasis reunion tour. The British Museum said the response to the exhibition had been 'extraordinary', prompting the museum to make changes to address lengthy queues, including banning visitors from taking photographs.

How it is being reported

• Bayeux Tapestry ticket sale outpaces The Odyssey opening, bank data showsMonzo’s customer data showed a surge in spending around the second tranche of public tickets to the British Museum being released.Independent Business · 26 Oct, 00:01
• Bayeux Tapestry ticket sale outpaces The Odyssey opening, bank data showsMonzo’s customer data showed a surge in spending around the second tranche of public tickets to the British Museum being released.Evening Standard · 26 Oct, 00:01

In this story: Bayeux Tapestry · British Museum · Monzo · London

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem