Everything we know about Lantern Festival UK organisers insist is not a scam
The company were forced to comment after customers raised concerns about its safety and location.
Organisers of a lantern festival in London and Birmingham have insisted the event is legitimate after online customers warned it could be a scam.
Adverts for Lantern Festival UK have gone viral on social media this month ahead of planned events in London and Birmingham on the second May bank holiday. The events will see crowds release lanterns into the sky at the same time and has already seen thousands snap up £50 tickets in advance.
However, with February’s disastrous ‘Wonka Experience’ in Glasgow still fresh in the memory, concerns have been raised that all is not as it seems. Customers have warned about lack of detail in the ‘sold out’ event’s adverts, as well as safety fears over the lanterns themselves. Organisers behind the festival have now defended the events, insisting Lantern Festival UK has the relevant permissions.
Trading Standards investigators have since said they are looking into the event after concerns were raised.
A Lantern Festival UK spokesperson told the Telegraph: “We share the public and media’s heightened awareness of events promotion, following the disastrous Wonka experience in Glasgow that was widely reported recently. Our events and theirs could not be more different.”
They explained that their events are expected to take place on private land, so they won't need planning permission from the local council.
The first location of the festival is in London on the bank holiday weekend of May 26. followed by Birmingham on June 1. Due to high demand, two more events were added to the festival dates. The full price of a single ticket is £50, which is currently reduced to £35, and it gets you a lantern, lighter and a marker. In a TikTok comment, the festival claim there will also be a firework show.
What is the lantern festival
The lantern festival has been promoted as a night when attendees will release lanterns into the sky at the same time. It appears to have taken inspiration from Asian countries such as China, where lanterns are released into the sky to mark the end of Chinese New Year celebrations. One of the most famous lantern festivals is held in Chian Mai, Thailand, and videos from there have been used to promote the events scheduled to take place in the UK.
On the official website, they claim there will be “hundreds, even thousands” of lanterns glowing in the sky. It is unclear exactly how many tickets have been sold, but the form released prior to the ticket launch, which promised a discount code, has over 44,000 sign-ups. The event’s website has since claimed it’s sold out. With the markers provided, attendees can add a message to the sky lanterns before they float into the sky. The lanterns are said to be biodegradable and made from rice paper, string, and bamboo.
Why do people think it's a scam?
In videos posted on TikTok, people have flagged various issues with the upcoming events. One post has pointed out that viral videos promoting Lantern Festival UK were actually shot in other countries. The organiser admitted this and described it as stock footage.
In a TikTok with 1.6 million views, Aliyah Atkins explains the reasons why she thought the event could be a scam as the specific location still hasn’t been confirmed. Atkins said: “Some people are saying ‘we’ve actually received the tickets’, babes do you even know where you’re going because you bought a ticket for somewhere that doesn’t even have a f****** venue.”
She went on to suggest that as London and Birmingham have major airports, it would be too unsafe to have a lantern festival to the scale the event has been advertised.
The website now claims the location will be made public on April 20. In their statement, the lantern festival said: “We have carefully planned these events and made numerous location selections in Birmingham and London, optioning sites of different capacities, based on their attributes that will enable us to create a safe and environmentally friendly event for all.”
In a statement to Yahoo News, a spokesperson from Birmingham Council said their trading standards team were looking into the events. The spokesperson said: “Birmingham City Council does not permit the intentional release into the sky of lanterns from any land or property which it owns and/or controls - this includes our streets, public spaces, cemeteries and local authority schools.
“They may travel and land anywhere, potentially causing harm to wildlife and the environment, and in the case of sky lanterns, have been the cause of several major fires.”
Others have also highlighted safety concerns connected to releasing thousands of lanterns into the sky, despite organisers’ claims they are biodegradable. A spokesperson for the RSPCA urged customers to ‘give the event a miss’, telling Yahoo News: “People may think that a sky lantern festival would be a good event to go to, but we would really urge them to think twice because sky lanterns can cause so much damage to animals and the environment. While sky lanterns may look pretty, the effect on animals is heartbreaking. Animals can eat them, or get entangled or tapped in them, which can cause a slow and painful death.
“Lanterns can also cause fires, destroying habitats or damaging animal housing or feed. That’s why we’ve urged local authorities to take action on their own land against the release of lanterns - as is already the case in Birmingham - and for the UK Government to take action nationally. We understand some people may take solace or comfort in the release of a lantern - which is why we've recommended lots of safe, environmentally-friendly alternatives instead.”
Can you get Lantern Festival UK ticket refunds?
The organisers told Birmingham Live that customers can request refunds within two weeks of buying their ticket. They said: "Our ticketing policy is transparent - customers can receive a full refund if they return their tickets within 14 days of purchase. After that window, refunds are not offered as we near the event dates to maximize capacity at what are low availability, highly demanded events."
According to the refund policy on the festival's website, you can request a refund for up to 15 days upon receipt of the ticket. It also states that refunds would not be possible once the ticket has been used. One section of their policy claims that if there are unforeseen circumstances that lead to the cancellation of the event, Lantern Festival UK has the right to refuse to issue any refund.
What are the rules on sky lanterns?
There isn’t a specific law banning the use of sky lanterns, but most local councils have rules against deploying them. According to the Birmingham City Council website, the intentional release of sky lanterns on land or property that the council owns and/or controls is banned.
This came into place following a large fire in 2013 that started after a sky lantern landed in an industrial estate in Smethwick. Over 200 firefighters and 45 firetrucks were dispatched to tackle the blaze. The West Midlands Fire Service said not only are the lanterns a fire hazard, they also pose a danger to livestock, agriculture, camping activities, thatched properties and hazardous material sites.
