A lantern festival feared to be a £50-per-ticket scam has been canceled at the last minute due to the risk of ‘thunderstorms’ – despite clear blue skies.
Lantern Festival UK had charged thousands of people up to £50 per person to attend the festival, where they would be able to release a fire lantern into the sky, while events were due to take place in London yesterday and today.
But ticket holders turned to social media after being disappointed by a last-minute email informing them the festival had been ‘postponed’ due to a predicted ‘thunderstorm’.
Many were quick to point out that no such storms are forecast in the south of England today, with clear skies across much of the capital. A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms is in force in the north of Scotland until tonight.
It comes after ticket holders previously raised concerns after discovering that the images used to promote the events all came from festivals in other countries, held by different organisers.
Just weeks ago, a planned date in Birmingham on June 1 was postponed until July 13, reportedly due to overwhelming demand forcing organizers to find a larger venue.
According to a screenshot uploaded by a TikTok user, those who purchased tickets were told that this weekend’s events, as well as June 8, had been canceled.
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Planned events in Woking, Hatfield, Redbridge and Sevenoaks were postponed.
“We believe it is best to reschedule these events to a future date when weather conditions are more favorable,” organizers said.
‘We are working hard to secure new dates in the coming weeks and will keep you fully informed.
‘Your tickets remain valid for the rescheduled events. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.”
The events were heavily promoted on TikTok, with videos of people dropping the picturesque objects into the night sky.
However, a backlash has emerged online with people demanding refunds for their tickets, amid accusations that the entire event is a ‘scam’, with some comparing it to the infamous Fyre Festival and the Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience.
Organizers appeared to back down on initial promises of fire-lit lanterns, instead saying the lanterns would be helium-based.
Some social media users also said they have not yet received tickets, while others have expressed concerns about the lack of information about the events – including the exact locations.
Lantern Festival UK claims the tickets are ‘100 percent refundable within 14 days of purchase’.
However, the refund policy goes on to say that “all ticket sales are considered final transactions” and there will be “no refund/exchange/cancellation of tickets.” It adds that if the event is canceled in its entirety due to unforeseen circumstances, it reserves the “sole and absolute right” not to issue a refund.
The London event page adds that the location would be announced via email and would be ‘within 35 miles’ of London.
Further confusion arose after events were advertised at golf clubs, but the company that owns the courses said they were definitely not taking place on their premises, the BBC reports.
“We decided that the events were no longer suitable for our locations,” a spokesperson said.
Since it was first published on TikTok in early March, videos showing the alleged delights of what Lantern Festival UK could look like have been viewed millions of times on the social media site.
More than 45,000 people completed a pre-sale registration form.
But the videos were shot outside Britain, with one showing the Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Thailand and another using video footage from The Lights Fest, a series of events in the United States.
It was also previously revealed that Birmingham Council’s trading standards body was investigating advertisements for an event in the city, and confirmed that none of the necessary permissions had been sought.
The festival claimed that since the event would take place on private property, no permission was needed.
Organizers added that all lanterns would be collected and recycled once released to protect the environment.
One ad claims that attendees can expect a “fair and entertainment” as well as food trucks, although specifics of what this entails are scarce.
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute has launched an investigation, with its chief fraud officer saying the festival has “all the hallmarks” of dodgy.
Katherine Hart, the institute’s chief officer for doorstep crime, scams and consumer vulnerability, explained that the website was only created in March by a Danish company and claims to have locations in London and Birmingham – despite neither having permission seems to have from the municipality.
She told MailOnline: ‘What we have is a website – I couldn’t say whether it was a scam or not. The problem is that it has all the features of one.
‘People bought tickets for a location that didn’t actually exist. And if there are thousands of people potentially entering a city and they don’t know where they’re going, all kinds of problems can arise.
‘I would advise people to actually contact their bank and see if they can stop that transaction. I would also ask them to see if they can process the refund through the company.”
MailOnline previously accessed the company’s registered business address but found no evidence of its existence.
Many councils in England have banned the release of fire lanterns on their land due to fire risks and concerns about the safety of visitors.
This includes Birmingham City Council, where two of the events are said to be taking place, while a number of London councils have also done so, including local authorities in Ealing, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Redbridge and Wandsworth.
The Lantern Festival UK website states: ‘As The Lights Fest is an outdoor event, we understand that bad weather may occasionally occur.
‘That is why the dates and locations of events are subject to change. In the event of inclement weather leading to the cancellation of a Sunday event, the first available make-up date will typically be scheduled for the Sunday of the following weekend.
‘If Sunday is not feasible, the second backup date will be arranged within 90 days of the original event date. Please note that no refunds will be issued if weather conditions necessitate rescheduling or rescheduling of an event.
‘Instead, your tickets remain valid for the first available catch-up date that we organize. If a makeup date is not scheduled within 90 days of the original event, a refund will be offered. We appreciate your understanding and flexibility regarding these circumstances.”
A spokesperson previously said: ‘We share the increased public and media awareness of event promotion following the disastrous Wonka experience in Glasgow, which was recently widely reported. Our events and theirs couldn’t be more different.
‘We have carefully planned these events and made numerous venue selections across Birmingham and London, choosing venues with different capacities, based on their characteristics, allowing us to create a safe and environmentally friendly event for everyone.
“Because ticket sales have exceeded our expectations, we have released the locations for lower capacity venues and entered into definitive agreements with the larger venues we identified as part of our planning process.
‘The specific locations for the events have not yet been publicly announced due to the overwhelming popularity of ticket sales, which has led to us securing larger venues as part of our strategy to accommodate as many people safely as possible. However, we can confirm that details of the Birmingham location will be released in the coming days once final arrangements have been finalised.
‘Regarding claims that the events in Birmingham may not have the correct permits, we would like to clarify that the lantern festival will take place on private land and therefore does not require planning permission from the council. We have instructed our lawyer to reassess our Birmingham lease agreement and council rules to ensure this compliance.
‘Our ticket policy is transparent: customers can receive a full refund if they return their tickets within 14 days of purchase. No refunds will be offered after that period as we close in on event dates to maximize capacity at low availability, high demand events.”
MailOnline has contacted Lantern Festival UK for comment.