Tickets for American politician and activist Bernard Sanders' book launch in Brussels' Bozar venue sold out in minutes on Tuesday.
Sanders will be speaking at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts for the launch of his new book, titled 'It's OK to be angry about capitalism,' on Tuesday 10 October as part of his European tour.
Tickets for the event went on sale on Tuesday 3 October at 13:00 and were completely sold out by 13:40. Many people then took to the event's Facebook page, as well as Bozar's social media platforms, in the hopes of securing a ticket.
"Sometimes 2,000 people were booking tickets at the same time, which caused some technical glitches every now and then, but the reservation service and back office were ready to handle the demand," Samir Al-Haddad, Press Officer for Bozar, told The Brussels Times.
The talk will be held in the venue's oval-shaped Henry Le Boeuf hall, one of the largest ones in the fine arts centre, he added.
Sanders, a senator from Vermont, is the longest-serving independent in US congressional history and will be discussing his latest book which was released in February 2023. He will be asked questions by Apache editor-in-chief Karl van den Broeck during the 90-minute event, held in English.
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The book analyses how the current economic system is failing people, making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Sanders argues that the solution requires a fundamental overhaul of our economy and politics and assesses the destructive nature of the capitalist system, how it undermines democracy and how it destroys the planet.
The event is part of Bozar's series of events named 'Writers & Thinkers', bringing some of the most important voices of the 21st century to the stage in Brussels. The lectures and debates will see them get into in-depth discussions at the intersection between art and society.
Despite the large interest, it is impossible to organise a second reading, "as Bernie Sanders is heading to Berlin after the Brussels event," Al-Haddad said.
Update: This article was updated on 4 October to include comments from Bozar.