ATLANTA, GA—Taste of Atlanta celebrated its 5th Anniversary with its largest turnout to date.

Thousands of hungry Georgians gathered at Atlantic Station in Midtown to enjoy culinary delights from over 70 of Atlanta's finest restaurants as well as cooking demonstrations, wine tasting and live music.

Scott Higley, Director of Retail Marketing for Atlantic Station said, "It was the best-attended event Atlantic Station has enjoyed."

In addition to the new location, Taste of Atlanta also chose a new ticketing company to handle sales this year. Atlanta-based Ticket Alternative offered provided convenient sales both online and over the phone.

According to Dale Gordon DeSena, Founder and President of Taste of Atlanta, event organizers chose Ticket Alternative because they “wanted to reach out to the Atlanta community.” They also looked for a “partner that had marketing expertise and a database of local buyers.”

Through Ticket Alternative, Taste of Atlanta saw sales increase substantially over the numbers sold by Ticketmaster last year.

“We like to the think that our substantially lower service charge helped contribute to the stellar sales,” says Ticket Alternative co-owner Iain Bluett. “We charge a fraction of what Ticketmaster charges because we know those high fees deter customers from buying tickets in advance.” (compare service charges)

Advance sales are essential for all events, from concerts to food festivals, for a number of reasons. Most importantly, an advance sale means customers have already committed financially and are thus less likely to change their plans or forget about an event. This translates into higher-turnout on the event date.

Additionally, Ticket Alternative captures customer data from advance sales so that the event promoter has a targeted list of attendees for use in future promotion. With a record of customers from this year, event organizers can effectively promote future Taste of Atlanta events directly to their target audience.

“We do a lot more than just charge credit cards,” Bluett continues. “Customers that call Ticket Alternative are able to speak with a live customer service representative immediately. There's no maze of automated menus to navigate or hours of hold music.”

DeSena also applauded Ticket Alternative's attitude, saying they were “attentive” and provided “very good customer service.”

The customer service representatives at Ticket Alternative take great pride in understanding the intricacies of all of their events. “With Taste of Atlanta,” says Bluett, “potential customers were able to call us to find out anything from where to park to what bands will be playing. It's the kind of personalized service you can't get from other companies like Ticketmaster.”

Ticket Alternative sells tickets for a number of other Atlanta events as well as venues nationwide. For more information visit www.ticketalternative.com or call 877-725-8849.