The biggest night for Canadian music is not exactly the hottest ticket in town.
With about a month to go before the Juno Awards, at least 40 percent of tickets for the March 15 show at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon remain unsold. Tickets went on sale Nov. 22.
According to Ticketmaster, as of Wednesday morning 4,497 tickets remain available for reserved seats as well as 12 wheelchair accessible spaces.
Reseller StubHub has an additional 434 Juno tickets up for grabs and reseller ATB Tickets – which is selling tickets in U.S. dollars – has more than 500.
Also still available are tickets for the general admission sections on the floor of the arena, where fans can stand.
According to a Juno insider, fewer than 12,000 tickets were made available, with large blocks set aside for presenters, performers, nominees and industry personnel. Ticket prices range from $53 to $547.60.
Most of the empty seats are in the upper bowl, so organizers could bring fans down on Juno night to fill spaces in the lower sections. An announcement in the coming days of a big name performer or presenter – nominees Justin Bieber and The Weeknd both have new music to promote – could also give sales a boost.
The public relations company representing the Juno Awards did not respond to emailed questions.
The Juno Awards broadcast will be hosted by Alessia Cara, who is also scheduled to perform, along with Daniel Caesar, Lennon Stella, The Glorious Sons, Tory Lanez and Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Jann Arden.
A number of this year's nominees will not be attending the show, including Bryan Adams (who will be performing in Sweden) and Avril Lavigne (who will be doing a show in Milan).
Saskatoon last hosted the Juno Awards in 2007. Next year's 50th edition returns to Toronto.