Bermuda Music Festival fever has started with tickets to see 11-time Grammy winning artist Alicia Keys selling out before noon yesterday.

Pre-sale tickets went on sale yesterday morning at 6 a.m. with a limited amount of tickets available only to residents and members of Steve Harvey's fan club through the 'www.bermudatourism.com/presell' website.

When this reporter checked the website at 11 a.m. yesterday, the only tickets left for the final night of the festival featuring Ms Keys and Aaron Neville, were in the Viva Las Vegas section and the majority of tickets for Thursday's night show featuring Beyoncé, her sister Solange and Lyfe Jennings, were gone as well.

A press release sent out yesterday afternoon by the Department of Tourism said: "Overwhelming demand for the 2008 Bermuda Music Festival pre-sale has exceeded expectations. In less than five hours, the dedicated allotment of local pre-sale festival tickets available online is near capacity."

Tickets officially went on sale this morning at 6 a.m. online and at Fairmont Southampton, Fairmont Hamilton Princess and Café Latte in St. George's. They are available in gold, silver and bronze seating.

There also three-night packages and Viva Las Vegas packages available.

The Royal Gazette put in requests to Dr. Brown and the Department of Tourism to find out how much the festival will cost taxpayers and who the corporate sponsors are.

In a statement the Ministry said: "Media queries regarding ticket sales, event costs and sponsorship will be addressed following the event."