In Brief:
- Bored Ape Yacht Club’s early access shop for ApeFest 2026 merch closes Sept. 4, ending a one-week pre-order run that opened Aug. 31.
- Pre-orders are open to everyone, not just holders, and the drop lands ahead of ApeFest on Oct. 17 at Beeple Studios in Charleston, South Carolina.
- Yuga Labs rewrote ApeFest ticketing this year: one ticket per BAYC and MAYC owned, a $99 refundable deposit and Glyph replacing tokenproof for ownership checks.
Bored Ape Yacht Club’s early access shop for ApeFest 2026 merch closes Sept. 4, ending a one-week pre-order run on the first batch of this year’s apparel.
The club opened the shop Aug. 31, with ApeFest 47 days out, and described it as a selection of previously classified gear. “ApeFest Early Access is live,” it said in a post. A follow-up post pushed a second look at the lineup: “A closer look, from every angle.”
A closer look, from every angle.
ApeFest Early Access closes Sept 4.
https://store.bayc.comBored Ape Yacht ClubView on X ↗
Pre-orders run through store.bayc.com and are open to anyone. Past ApeFest stores have been tokengated, requiring wallet verification to shop.
The BAYC Yacht Jacket ran on a separate track. The club offered it through a presale sign-up for a chance to buy a limited edition colorway at $250 plus shipping, slated to arrive before ApeFest. Entry for that presale has closed.
What changed on tickets
Ticketing is already open, and the terms are different this year. Holders can claim one ticket for every BAYC and MAYC they own. In prior years it was one ticket and one guest ticket per holder, not per NFT.
Tickets are free to claim, but each requires a $99 deposit plus applicable taxes at the time of the claim. Yuga Labs returns the deposit within 90 days after the last day of ApeFest to attendees who scan their ticket at the event, via the same payment method used at claim.
BAYC owners can buy two guest tickets. MAYC owners can buy one. Guest tickets cost $99 each plus taxes, and the same scan-and-return rule applies.
The numbers came down from last year. ApeFest 2025 in Las Vegas used a $169 refundable deposit for holders and charged $269 for a guest ticket that wasn’t a deposit.
Ownership checks now run through Glyph, the wallet app at useglyph.io, in place of tokenproof. Claimants must be at least 18 and confirm ownership through Glyph. Tickets and guest tickets are limited, subject to availability and first come, first served.
Cancellations must be completed at tickets.apefest.com/tickets before 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Sept. 17. Requests after that won’t be honored or processed, and claims and guest ticket purchases can’t be refunded, exchanged or carried over to a later ApeFest.
The venue
ApeFest runs 7 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Oct. 17, at Beeple Studios. The 50,000-square-foot building at 2325 Charleston Regional Pkwy. includes a 13,000-square-foot immersive space.
It belongs to Mike Winkelmann, the digital artist who works as Beeple and sold “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” at Christie’s for $69 million in 2021.
How the merch usually moves
Past ApeFest cycles have run three ways: a pre-order window with pickup at the event and no shipping, in-person shopping during the festival, and ship-to-home ordering that opens on the first day. Home delivery has taken as long as six to eight weeks. Purchase caps have applied, generally two of each item per order and one per customer on certain collaboration pieces.
A weekend, not a night
The main event lasts one night. But the club has published a calendar around it mixing official events with community-run ones: paintball, poker, a donut pop-up, parties, hangouts and happy hours. BAYC said more information is coming and pointed to apefest.com.
“It’s a pretty full weekend if you want it to be one,” the club said.
