Lantern Festival slammed as a ‘scam’ after using ‘fake videos’ to sell tickets

A lantern festival is being compared to the infamous Fyre Festival and disastrous Willy Wonka Experience amid fears the event is a huge social media scam.

Thousands of people have paid up to £50 for a ticket to Lantern Festival UK, which has been advertised to take place in London and Birmingham this summer.

Videos shared mostly on TikTok promise ‘magical moments that leave you breathless and filled with wonder’, but no venues have been confirmed and sky lanterns are banned by nearly two-thirds of British councils – including Birmingham and several across the capital.

People have also accused organisers of using footage from unrelated lantern festivals, including the Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Thailand and Lights Fest in the US.

Lantern Festival UK claims tickets are ‘100% refundable within 14 days of purchase’ but their refund policy also states ‘all ticket sales are deemed as final transactions’.

A spokesman said the company shares ‘the public and media’s heightened awareness of events promotion’ in the wake of the Wonka experience backlash but insisted ‘our events and theirs could not be more different’.

They said events have been ‘carefully planned’ with ‘numerous location selections’ under consideration ‘that will enable us to create a safe and environmentally friendly event’.

Although it admitted using ‘some stock footage’ in its promotional material, the spokesperson said all events ‘will be professionally produced and will meet all safety standards’.

But social media users have come forward claiming they have had no information and fear the whole thing is a con.

The event hasd been heavily promoted on TikTok (Picture: @lanternfestivaluk)

It is being advertised as taking place in London and Birmingham (Picture: @lanternfestivaluk)

Dates have been given but no exact locations (Picture: @lanternfestivaluk)

Social media users have accused organisers of using clips from similar unrelated events (Picture: EPA)

One Twitter user compared the event to Fyre Festival, writing: ‘Huge scam! You think the UK government would actually allow 2,000 lanterns in the sky when ULEZ is a thing? If you bought a ticket you better start making a claim with your bank now.’

Another person said: ‘I cannot wait for end of May to see all the uproar and memes that’ll come out of the next biggest shambles the UK has seen after the Willy Wonka Experience (The Lantern Festival).’

A third added: ‘If you’re considering paying money to a site claiming to be hosting Lantern Festival UK in Birmingham next month, just bear in mind Chinese lanterns are banned by pretty much every local authority in the Midlands, not to mention the airports in the area.’

Keira Guise, who purchased two £50 tickets believing it would be a ‘bucket list moment’, told the BBC she now fears she won’t get her money back.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute has now opened an investigation.

Katherine Hart, the institute’s lead officer for doorstep crime, scams and consumer vulnerability, told the BBC: ‘It has all the hallmarks of something that isn’t as legitimate as it is making out.

‘The website looks very glossy, but there are a lot of misleading terms on that website that raises my concern.’

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A Lantern Festival UK spokesperson said: ‘Lantern Festival UK would like to address the recent media reports and allegations regarding our upcoming lantern festivals in Birmingham and London.

‘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.

‘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.

‘As ticket sales have overperformed our expectations, we’ve released the site options on lower-capacity venues and entered into final agreements with the larger venues we’ve identified as part of our planning process.

‘Our selection of lanterns is based on ensuring aesthetics that align with our advertisements and an effort to limit the environmental impact as well.’

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