The 25,001st person to arrive at Fort Marcy Ballpark to see Zozobra burn Sept. 8 will have to watch from farther away.

Zozobra crowds are believed to have exceeded the capacity by 3,000 to 4,000 in recent years, but new scanner technology will allow the sponsors to close the gates as soon as 25,000 people are admitted this year.

"There's a good possibility that at about 7:30 (p.m.) ... we could be reaching a capacity crowd in Fort Marcy," said Zozobra producer Ray Valdez. "We'll have to stop scanning them at that point, and then we'll overflow them into Magers Field" — next to the Fort Marcy Recreation Center.

Valdez said by scanning the bar codes on each ticket at the gates, he will have a running count on the number of people admitted to the baseball field.

General admission this year will remain $10 for advance tickets and $15 at the gate — the same as in 2010, when prices rose from $5 and $10. But for the first time, children 4 to 6 will be charged $3 for advance tickets or $5 at the gate. They previously were let in free. Now, only children 3 or younger will be admitted without charge.

"It's sort of the airline rule on babes in arms," Valdez said. "If you're carrying your kid in, you ain't getting charged."

The Downtown Kiwanis Club, which has sponsored the annual event since 1962, also has a new ticketing agency this year — Hold My Ticket. The Lensic box office handled sales for the last two years, but long lines and parking problems at its West San Francisco Street location and its closure on the Labor Day weekend before the Zozobra burning led the club to turn to the new agency, Valdez said.

"Ticket sales are going quickly," Valdez said. "I think right now we have sold about 500 tickets, and it's only July."

Hold My Ticket is expected to open a permanent location in Santa Fe in August. Tickets already are available online from holdmyticket.com or zozobra.com. During August, tickets will be available at the Plaza Bandstand during afternoon concerts. They also will be on sale during the Labor Day Arts and Crafts Festival on the Plaza on Sept. 3, 4 and 5.

No more $10 and $3 tickets will be available Sept. 8, the day of the Zozobra burning, but $15 and $5 tickets will go on sale at the gates at 3 p.m.

No re-entry will be allowed this year. Valdez said the rule was instituted last year but not advertised in advance.

Valdez said the burning will be shown on Comcast cable channel 28 and streamed live on zozobra.com, but he does not know yet what commercial television stations plan regarding the event.

Joyce Purley, the city's emergency preparedness coordinator, said city police will be in charge of enforcing the fire marshal's 25,000-person capacity. She said television screens set up in the baseball field will carry safety messages about regulations, dangers and exits.

The annual burning of "Old Man Gloom" — the unofficial kickoff of La Fiesta de Santa Fe — was started by artist Will Shuster in his backyard in 1924. The event eventually was moved downtown and then to Fort Marcy on the near north side. In recent years, the paper, cloth and wood effigy has stood 49 feet tall and weighs about 1,600 pounds.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Will Shuster's Burning of Zozobra

When: 3-10 p.m. Sept. 8

Where: Fort Marcy Ballpark

Tickets: General admission $10 in advance, $15 at the gate; children 4 to 6 years old $3 in advance, $5 at the gate; 3 and younger free

More information: zozobra.com or holdmyticket.com