Lantern festivals axed leaving concern over refunds

Venue owners said the four events around London would not be going ahead

Lantern festivals that were said to be "sold out" have been cancelled, with ticket holders unaware of how to get refunds.

Four events due to take place in the home counties this weekend will not go ahead, a spokesman for the venues said on Thursday.

Planned events in Birmingham in June and July still have no venue confirmed on the organisers’ website or social media.

Lantern Festival UK has now sent an email to customers, saying events this weekend, and an additional date on 8 June, were postponed, due to forecasts of thunderstorms.

It said the events would be rescheduled, and tickets would still be valid. They are yet to respond to the BBC.

The organisers advertised events on Sunday and Monday at Woking in Surrey, Maidenhead in Berkshire, Sevenoaks in Kent and Mill Green in Hertfordshire, with individual tickets costing £35.

Jack Coleman from GetGolfing, which oversees the four golf clubs slated for the events said they definitely weren’t going ahead at its venues.

However, they continued to be advertised on social media.

Mr Coleman said Lantern Festival UK had approached the clubs to hold events, but after initial discussions, GetGolfing expressed concerns over health and safety, security and whether local authorities were fully across the proposals.

“We decided that the events were no longer suitable for our venues,” he said.

TikTok influencers made paid partnership videos promoting the events

Lantern Festival UK promoted further festivals in Birmingham on 1 June and 13 July, Manchester and Glasgow in September, and an additional event in Surrey on 8 June.

The company's website said customers would receive an email two weeks prior to the event date confirming the "full schedule of the day."

One user on X told the BBC on Thursday that they still had not received a venue for the Birmingham date, despite there being less than two weeks until the event.

The venues for Manchester and Glasgow have not been revealed.

There had been no update on Lantern Festival UK's website or social media platforms since 12 May, when it announced extra capacity for events in the south-east of England.

Alejandra Sevillano said she had been waiting for a refund since April

One woman on X said she had been waiting for a refund since 10 April.

Alejandra Sevillano, from Portsmouth, had doubts about the legitimacy of the event after seeing videos online, and "immediately" asked for a refund.

In emails shown to the BBC, Lantern Festival UK told Ms Sevillano that she would be issued a refund by the end of April.

She said she did not receive a refund, contacted the organisers again on 3 May, and had had no further correspondence.

The company previously told customers that they could receive a full refund if they returned their tickets within 14 days of purchase.

The company's refund policy now states "all tickets are final transactions."

The company posted on Instagram on 5 May that the lanterns would be "non-fire sky helium lanterns," despite having already sold tickets that included a lighter, and using photos on its social media and website that showed open-flame lanterns.

It previously denied to the BBC suggestions that the events were a scam.

TikTok influencers made targeted ads to promote the events. Many compared them to a popular scene in Disney's animated film, Tangled, in which thousands of open-flame lanterns float in the sky.

In April, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute confirmed it had begun an investigation, after social media speculation about the legitimacy of the festivals.