Met Gala 2020 ticket holders urged to make donations after event's cancelation

Journalist Anna Wintour's team at Vogue has been reaching out to ticket holders to the cancelled Met Gala and urging guests to make donations rather than get refunds.

According to Page Six, The Metropolitan Museum of Art this week called off the gala, where guests traditionally range from Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian to Jeff Bezos. The extravaganza raises money for the Met's Costume Institute.

As per the sources, this gala season, most cancelled events are asking guests not to get their money back, but to make the money laid out for tickets donations instead.

But unlike other gala events, prices at the Met Gala -- one of the world's toughest tickets -- go for up to USD 300,000 a table or USD 30,000 for a single ticket. Also, unlike other stuffed shirt charity galas, for which some donors might be happy to part with the ticket prices in exchange for not having to show up to another staid high-society black-tie dinner, the Met Gala is about the party.

While Vogue had no comment, as per a source familiar with the museum's programs told Page Six: "As the global arts and culture community, and the Met, suffer huge losses as a result of the pandemic, and as the Met Gala is the Costume Institute's primary source of annual funding, they hope guests will consider generously turning their tickets to this fundraiser into a donation or transfer tickets toward next year's gala. If that is not possible, the money will, of course, be refunded."

The gala raised a reported USD 15 million in last year. This year's Costume Institute exhibition (which would have been the theme for the party) is called, 'About Time: Fashion and Duration.' The exhibition is still scheduled to open on October 29.

( With inputs from ANI )