'Like a Covid jab queue' - Halloween festival branded 'depressing' and expensive

The festival includes a mini golf area among its attractions

Families have described a Halloween event in Cardiff as "hectic" and "depressing", with some comparing it to Scotland's viral Willy Wonka Experience.

The Cardiff Halloween Festival is taking place until 31 October, with a family ticket for two adults and two children costing £53.50 plus a £6 booking fee.

While some on Facebook said they had enjoyed the event, many others who visited during the opening weekend left negative reviews, with one saying the entrance looked like a "Covid jab queue" and another comparing it to "Chernobyl".

The festival organisers apologised to those "left feeling disappointed", adding that severe weather just before opening meant "some zones were not quite ready".

According to the Cardiff Halloween Festival website, a daytime ticket is £14.50 for adults and £13.50 for children, plus a £1.50 booking fee.

The ticket gives access to "all of Halloween Island's adventures - from trick-or-treating trails and playful shows to pumpkin-packed photo spots, games, and more".

But on social media, dozens of people who said they had been to the event left negative reviews.

"After paying a high entry fee, we were shocked to find that almost everything inside cost extra," said one visitor.

Another said: "The queues were huge, especially for the 'ghost boat', which turned out to just be the usual water taxi down the bay."

"Tents not open, no Halloween atmosphere, very few props. We left after 15 minutes," said another, while one woman said it was like "paying a visit to Chernobyl".

An image seen on the Cardiff Halloween Festival website

Brych Rees, a teaching assistant from Merthyr Valley, told BBC News he had attended the same event at different locations over the past two years but said this year's experience in Cardiff Bay was "really disappointing".

The 35-year-old said he, his partner and two friends paid about £60 to enter and described the decorations as "really sparse" with "a total lack of atmosphere".

He said he refused to pay an extra £10 to enter a "very depressing tent maze that would have been over in about 30 seconds flat".

There were a "handful of rides and the rides themselves seemed depressed", he said, adding: "It was a really surreal experience."

Mr Rees said his group had been offered a 30% refund.

"If the organisers want any kind of continued patronage then severe and immediate improvements are necessary to Cardiff's answer to the Willy Wonka Experience - aka Cardiff Halloween Festival," he said.

'Just so underwhelming'

Kirstie Bevan, from Neath, told BBC News she and her husband Lee paid nearly £70 to attend the festival with their children on Saturday.

They had to queue for about one hour to get a "ghost ship" to the event, which she said was a Cardiff Bay water taxi with some decorations added.

"It just reminded me of the Willy Wonka experience in Scotland," said Mrs Bevan.

One tent contained props including a chair and table painted black, some barrels and pumpkins stacked up next to crates on a patch of grass in "pumpkin village", she said.

While the food was "really nice" and they enjoyed watching a fire show and The Salem Sisters, everything else was "just so underwhelming", Mrs Bevan added.

Lydia Darby said her daughter banged her head on the floor in a marquee housing a bouncy castle

Lydia Darby, from Dudley, West Midlands, said in her Facebook review that the event was "hectic, unorganised and poorly maintained".

She told BBC News her three-year-old daughter Delilah had fallen off a bouncy castle and banged her head on an area of floor without cushioning.

There were some foam mats, she said, adding that these were laid out "haphazardly" and had moved away from the edge of the bouncy castle.

Ms Darby told the BBC a member of staff told her afterwards the castle was for children aged five and over but said she had not been informed of this when booking.

Kirstie Bevan said the experience was "just so underwhelming"

'Quite amateur'

Kayleigh Evans, from Cardiff, visited with her partner Lee and two young children on Sunday.

She said she had enjoyed previous Cardiff Halloween Festival events but said this year's seemed "quite amateur".

"When we got there it was so disappointing. I looked at the mini golf and thought I was not paying £5 per person to do that," she said.

Brych Rees said the decorations were "really sparse"

But others were more positive, with one visitor to the event sharing a review where she described it as "a brilliant day out with six kids from 21 years to 10-months-old".

"The boat trip to and from is a good touch, the fire show was top notch and couldn't get the kids out of the show tent dancing most the day loved it will be back again next year," they added.

A Cardiff Halloween Festival spokesperson said: "We are very sorry that some guests did not have the experience we wanted for them during the opening daytime session.

"Severe weather in the 24 hours before opening meant that a number of areas were still being finalised on Saturday, which understandably led to disappointment."

They said they had been "working tirelessly" to provide the "experience people expect from us", adding that the safety of families was "always our highest priority".

Soft flooring in the bouncy castle area had been adjusted and was being monitored throughout each day following feedback on Saturday, the spokesperson said.

The organisers were "listening carefully to all feedback", they added, and were "encouraged by the many families who have contacted us directly to share how much they enjoyed their visit and the improvements they have experienced since Saturday".

"The majority of visitors since then have had a positive experience and we're delighted to see children and parents creating magical Halloween memories together across the island," they said.