Christmas is fast approaching – with only 18 days now remaining until people open the presents left under the tree by the big-boned bearded man and eat chocolates for breakfast. In the dance music world, the period ahead of the festive season is increasingly known for the fact that festivals are finalising their lineups for next year – and getting ready to announce who they’ve bagged.

Some festivals like to strike whilst the iron is hot and announce their first lineups before Christmas – presumably because a lot of people get paid early in December. Others prefer to wait until January, in a somewhat futile attempt to make the month anything other than what it is – a long wait to get paid again.

Parklife – the Manchester festival which usually has swathes of dance acts on the lineup – will be announcing who’s on the bill towards the end of January. However, for the ultra-hardcore fans, a pre-Christmas limited sale is due to take place soon – so what’s the way they’ve decided to drum up some interest in the event?

Well, they’ve turned to the dance music press – who can always be trusted to spin literally any announcement into the best thing ever. They revealed to Mixmag that they’ll be reducing the price of weekend admission tickets from £129.50 to… give us a second to make sure we’ve got this right… £125.

Yes, a reduction of £4.50 on the weekend ticket price is promised – on the grounds they wish to make the festival more “accessible” to people. Mixmag have managed to make this sound like the best thing since sliced bread was invented – although it’s hardly surprising, as Parklife paid to put it there.

So what’s the problem? Well, there are a few. Firstly, only a limited number of those tickets are available at that price – the exact figure is being kept under wraps, unsurprisingly. Second, two of the sales have already taken place as of the time of publication – with the general sale due to begin tomorrow, as stated on their own website…

And thirdly, Mixmag’s use of the term “accessible” in this article is downright odd. Traditionally, the word “accessible” in the context of festivals and other events refers to provisions made for disabled people to go – Ears To The House should be surprised that Mixmag’s editors didn’t flag this one up before publication, but we can’t honestly say we are.

Good luck to anyone trying to get those tickets – we suspect the numbers aren’t plentiful…