Good social media marketing, poor experience. My toddler did enjoy the 2 minute light walk through. There was misinformation on the website about the ages required to pay and their platform that they used fever refused to refund my money because they said it was up to the vendor. The manager on site acted like they would do it and showed me a QR code . The vendor said it was up to fever. It was just a back-and-forth of neither of them wanting to refund my money. read more

DMV Winter Lantern Festival - Festivals Near Me - Tysons, Virginia

Great holiday Chinese light show! Inside there is dumplings and hot chocolate! enjoyable walk on a cold evening Wish there were Elotes read more

See all

Event had ZERO music of any kind, ... Items inside were SOOOooo overpriced that it was insulting . Additionally, everything appeared filthy when you got close on them. Everything was more attractive from a distance... like outside of the gate distance. No cultural significance at all. Basically lawn lights spread out. Tent stage has trash pilled up behind it so high that it felt like Oscar the Grouch was the manager. Parking was inside the mall garage where the attendants were quick to threaten that the mall would tow your car if you didn't pay $15 dollars to pay in the event parking area. (We didn't , and they didn't ) Basically you're paying for IG photo ops, but i Entire event was not worth the $30 price tag Only good thing is that my 17 month old found it mildly entertaining.. The mall was better decorated and more Interesting .. This was the first and last time I will be attending . My recommendation: drive past, pull over .. look through the fence. What you see is what it is. Up close in any any better unless you want photos... even then, get there early so crowds don't get in read more

DMV Winter Lantern Festival - Festivals Near Me - Tysons, Virginia

I was a bit skeptical after reading reviews online but fortunately cheaper tickets are available on Groupon and they were having a holiday deal with an additional $5 off so my friend and I only ended up paying about $16 per person for ticket. You can purchase the ticket on Groupon first and then you MUST go to their actual website to select a ticket (as if you were to purchase one) and then enter the redemption code to redeem your ticket. We parked at Galleria and before entering we saw everyone leaving/entering with sparkly light up halos. I thought this was such a super cute gift to give out-- especially if you have kids and they go running off you can easily find them in the dark lol. The festival was well spaced out with different themed areas and entertainment spaces for kids as well. There was an indoor tent area with a live performance stage, small toy shop, bouncy house, and customizable hand crafted art experiences by locals from Shichuan China. My friend got her name painted in such a beautiful an artistic way and I got a little personalized rice grain necklace with my name in it. There's even a food booth outside. All the aunties and uncles running the event were very friendly and kind. I admit I did not have the highest expectations after reading reviews online but I had a lot of fun despite the freezing weather and it was overall a great experience. Definitely recommend for dates or family nights. read more

See all

Waste of time and money!! Just a few things in a parking lot. Takes maybe 30 minutes to see the event. They advertised some great acrobatic show which didn't happen. It was swapped with some woman strumming some Chinese instrument for a couple songs. My son wanted to leave after the first one. They have a lot of overpriced opportunities to spend more money there. If your kid wants cotton candy, it's $10-30 each. If you have to go to the bathroom, there are a few disgusting porta johns that have not been cleaned in a very long time!! And there's no light in them, since the show is at dark. So you won't want to take a child inside them or go inside yourself. Just save your money and don't go. read more

Know what you're getting into. It's inflatables and some light fixtures in a parking lot. The "performance" is in a tent. With 5:00 tickets there wasn't enough to keep us occupied for a 6:00 performance (only 2 a night). May be okay for very young children. 5:00 was too early, not dark enough. Lots of the fixtures were patched together, generally worn down. read more

Took my toddler and infant there on a Sunday night, it was pretty empty due to the holiday weekend. They got some interesting displays and the sparkling lights attract the kids. For adults, the ticket costs $26.99 plus $5 taxes and fees, which rounds up to $32 per person. There was a bounce house (included in our ticket), seesaw, lit up swings that my toddler enjoyed. The experience was average, it was a rip-off for that price, but my toddler slept well after the event. Free parking across the street at the mall parking lot. For adults, the walk takes about 30 mins. read more

See all

I spent $120 for 2 adults and 2 kids after Xmas, non peak hours. I was forced to pay an additional $15 to park at the mall where we were then forced to run across 4 lanes of traffic in the dark to get to the event. Event was disappointing. They have a bounce house and little trampoline for additional $10/kid as well as ride on dinosaurs, $10/kid for 6 min ride time. Hot chocolate? $5/cup for Swiss miss and water. The acrobat show was the best part, period. (2 stars bc the show was great) It would have been great if they had some heaters placed around the lot so ppl could warm up a bit. Just disappointed. read more

DMV Winter Lantern Festival - 2 of 4 swings... my kids liked this the most. - Festivals Near Me - Tysons, Virginia

This is practically a scam. The entire experience was so utterly underwhelming. Overpriced tickets and overpriced garbage food. One sad performer entirely by themselves. Stay far away from this event. read more

I was really excited to see this, but the iteration in Tysons Corner was mostly a disappointment. If you have little kids, this could be a fun activity for a visit in the early evening. There are a lot of lanterns and they are impressive. The space is stroller friendly. But I felt it was over priced and didn't meet my expectations because it wasn't cohesive. Let's start with the price: $26 per adult. $21 for students/seniors and $18 for kids ages 4-13. For that price, I was expecting something more organized and immersive. The location--a giant empty lot in Tysons--is technically transit-accesible, but you probably want to drive here. The event parking wasn't clearly labeled, nor was there a dedicated crosswalk to get from the lot to the event. Groups of people were hoping for the best and running across a pretty big, traffic-heavy road. The line to get in was long, but it moved fast. Once we got in, there wasn't a clear path for where to go. You're sort of on your own to wander around and check out various displays. The displays themselves are cool, and my toddler had a really fun time. But from an adult perspective, it felt sort of scattered. There is a mix of traditional Chinese imagery, like dragons and terracotta warriors, with lanterns from other histories. I wasn't sure why things were ordered as they were. At least one display had a QR code to learn more, but most weren't labeled. The ground was also poorly lit, making it easy to trip over power cords. I didn't try any food or games, so I can't speak to those. Basically, this felt like paying to see some very fancy Halloween or Christmas decorations. If you have a car and go to the suburbs, you can do that for free. read more

DMV Winter Lantern Festival - Dragon lantern - Festivals Near Me - Tysons, Virginia

Cool lights, just make sure you park at the Tysons galleria mall parking, walk through Tyson's galleria, then cross the street (kind of hard to cross, we needed to jaywalk) to get there read more

If we paid for three tickets at $30 a pop, we would be PISSED. Luckily, we were gifted tickets to the DMV Winter Lantern Festival. For 15 minutes, our six-year-old daughter enjoyed seeing lit-up chicks, cats, etc. The swings and the changing lights on the ground were a hit for you. Everything else was a major let down. To start, it's across from Tysons II, a suburban mall, in a parking lot. Nothing about the scenery is nice. The lanterns are weirdly placed and run down. It's so lame! Food options are horrible and the live music even worse. There's a little rollercoaster that is very unsafe and not monitored by staff. If you have a chance to never go to the DMV Winter Lantern Festival, take it. $30 per ticket gets you to MANY better things in the D.C. area. read more

See all

Well... first let me say I feel that this place would be magical in the eyes of a child. With that being said, if you're not bringing in a kid you may feel indifferent. $26 was a lot to pay to walk thru a parking lot fenced area of lights. There were a lot of people, but it was most likely to pay homage for Chinese New Year. If you don't have the funds to walk inside, you can see and enjoy it all walking outside and around it too. read more

See all

Total ripoff. Terrible customer service. The whole thing is kinda weird. Bunch of giant inflatables in a parking lot. Some weird Chinese food and trinkets in a tent. Don't go! read more

I got the tickets on Groupon for $16 each and it was worth it would go again! Very pretty was there for about an hour and the dumplings were so good. read more

See all

Pros: Something to do with the kids. I took a one year and three year old, along with five adults and although it. Kids under four are free. We got discounted tickets for the adults, but they were still $20/person on top of the $15. The line to enter was long, but it moved quickly (we waited 10-15 in the line before getting in, where it was not very crowded). The lanterns were very neat and entertained the kids, but there was little to no signage of what they were and what they represented. There was a tent with crafts and stage where there were performances (e.g. Chinese Opera) with translation on the screen, but that was the only place where I felt I learned something. There were some cute activities beyond the lanterns (e.g. riding dinosaurs and go karts in the shape of dinosaurs) but those cost EXTRA on top of the ticket. Must haves: If you go bring ALL the layers, take as few cars as possible, and a change of clothes for kids as the port a poties are in one corner of the lot and accidents can happen when you have to walk 5 minutes with a toddler to the port a potties. I recommend bringing a stroller or wagon for young kids to keep them warm/avoid carrying them. Cons: The cost of admission was steep. It was marketed as being in DC...it's not, it is in Tysons in a parking lot. Parking was chaotic. While signs said event parking could not park in the Galleria lots, there was little to no signage pointing you to where event parking was and it wasn't listed in the email with FAQs. We saw some adults here, without kids and they looked pretty disappointed. All in all, there are better things to do with kids (and adult) for far less and that are much more culturally representative during the evening. read more

We were forced to park and the event parking.Even though the mall led plenty of parking, and then when we got out of our car the enforcer was gone.So we wasted fifteen dollars. It was completely filled with lame displays.I think it was geared for children.They had a couple of concessions for cheap chinese food. It was no entertainment even though it was advertised to have entertainment.The whole thing was a waste of time.We spent about fifteen minutes looking at these stupid figures.And then left. What a waste of money and time. read more

Do not go by the website for this event!! Way over priced $26 a ticket for a walk through a parking lot. And don't get me started on the entertainment the website shows acrobatics what you get is a tent that is filthy and one kid doing a balancing act and not a good one at that. Then on top of it when you go to park they want you to pay $15 to park in the free mall parking garage. read more

Don't do it. Save yourself the stress. Bought 4 tickets and drove 2 hours! The traffic was absolutely horrendous. Sat in traffic for over 1 hour--parking garages were full. Ended up just leaving. Extremely disappointed and waste of money!!! read more

This is the first year the Winter Lantern Festival was held in the DC MD VA (DMV) area, as it's typically only in NY to commemorate the Lunar New Year. Taking place from December 2022 to February 12, 2023. Pros: - located across the street from the Tyson's II parking lot from Neiman Marcus side. (Walking distance) - very pretty lights, large and small depictions: great for photos! I took a lot of photos but only attached a few to this review (not all the things you can see there - I didn't include some of the other floral ones, a paper lantern walkway with lights in the center, and a couple other things) - if you have kids it's a great place to let them run around bc the sculptures/lanterns are spread apart to make the festival look bigger than it was Cons: - price was about $30 per person , which was way too much considering the size of this attraction (took about 45 min to get through the whole thing just bc I stopped every minute to take photos) - social media and influencers were making it seem like the festival was large, but it's probably about a half mile radius lol - I was hoping that since people were upset it was small and expensive, it wouldn't be crowded: I went at 630pm on a Sunday night and it was PACKED with kids - people were rude, walking into others photos and pretty much just not respectful of letting people have a minute to just get their pics lol, leading to a not as enjoyable experience. It was okay, I probably wouldn't go again if they decided to do this annually after this being it's first year, unless they change the lights every year, and either bring the price down or make the festival bigger. read more

See all

This light show was cute but definitely over priced. We got 6 tickets on Groupon for $100, but when I went to buy tickets the regular way it was $30 per person. So I searched Groupon for a deal. Than when we showed up they had a sign with a discount $27 for adults and like $17 per child. I think it should of been a flat fee of $15 per person. Either was we enjoyed ourselves but we walked through in about 15-20 minutes I tried to stay longer but there was nothing else. They had a food truck and an ice cream truck but it was freezing outside so I got us all hot chocolate $5 per cup. I found this on Instagram it's definitely a spot for good IG pics but it's just over priced. read more

See all

This was probably my least favorite Christmas activity this season. Location was in the parking lot in Tyson's. It was extremely open , which is great, but it was just underwhelming. The displays were pretty and kept my toddler entertained, but i wouldn't recommend for adults to attempt to enjoy. If it wasn't for the puddles, and the bounce house, it probably would be a 20 minute adventure. This had lots of potential, but missed the mark for me. read more

Event takes place in a parking lot across from Tysons Galleria. Little parking guidance is given and there is no crossing assistance / guard. Had to cross a very busy road with small children. Mall traffic makes the event difficult to access. Cars were being towed by mall security watching for people walking to the event. $50 drop fee or $200 impound. There is no safety cushioning underneath swings and seesaws in the playground area. I couldn't believe it. For the price and inconvenience I recommend avoiding. I genuinely question the safety precautions at this event, specifically the playground area and parking Some of the lanterns were cool. read more

Deceptive and overpriced. Left a lot to the imagination. Would not recommend. The venue was a Parking lot with little to offer in the way of a memorable experience. Save your $. read more

This was extremely disappointing. The tickets should be $5 or $10. That's all it's worth. I've been to lantern festivals before and this was worst. It was like pretty lamps left in a parking lot. It was extremely cheap. read more

This is definitely not worth the price of the tickets. It took us about 15 minutes to walk through - it's just a bunch of light up displays sitting in a parking lot across from the mall in Tyson's Corner. There's no theme - it's really not interactive. They did absolutely nothing to make the setting nicer than a parking lot. There are a few bouncy castles at the end and a couple of crappy food trucks - don't bother. We all laughed about lame it was when we left. read more

DONT GO ITS A RIPOFF!! Went last night and got completely scammed. First of all, it gives a "carnival on a parking lot" feel. The lanterns are beautiful but having them displayed on a lot really takes away the enjoyment. There is no atmosphere. Secondly and the most important is this: This was a horrible experience. Our family (6 of us) booked a 9pm slot. We each purchased individual tickets (I bought mine, my son and his fiancee bought theirs and her parents with her younger sister bought theirs). We drove from Baltimore. We were not late at all and arrived a few minutes before our 9pm slot. We were only halfway through it when exactly at 9:30 they started shutting all the displays off! We were furious!! Why would you sell a 9pm slot if you close at 9:30? There were sooo many angry people, us included, and a family that had spent $300 on tickets!! Initially, the website advertised that it is a 90-minute experience. But when I looked this morning, I see they changed it to 45 minutes. I'm telling you that I checked the duration time very carefully as it's an hour plus drive for us. Nowhere on the site does it say that the last entry should be at 8:30 to allow enough time. Again, why sell a 9pm ticket if you shut everything down at 9:30? So we drove an hour for a 30 minute experience. This is theft. They are stealing from customers and this is unethical business practices. Please think twice before booking. I hear there are other light displays that are much better. Brookside Gardens in Silver Spring was another choice we should have done first. They would never shut everything down while people are walking around!! read more

Lanterns were really good. The "place to warm up" was really weird. The belly dancer was completely unexpected. For the amount of money paid for the tickets you would have expected more. Except for the lanterns, everything else was on the cheap side, especially for being in Tysons read more

The FEVER ticketing company is non-responsive, the website is tricky and there are many complaints for it at Better Business Bureau. Avoid FEVER! read more

highly over rated and very expensive. We paid approx $100 for 2 adult and 2 kids tickets through Fever (the online vendor we were directed to). the ambiance of the area is very basic, it feels like a parking lot with a bunch of blow up exhibits. the reason I think it still draws people in is the exhibits look very good in pictures on social media, and they are not as appealing in person. for younger kids and toddlers, this might be interesting but not for tweens and teens (mine were less than excited). it's definitely overpriced and underwhelming for a 30-45 minute walk through. please save your money and spend it on better holiday activities! read more

The lanterns are very creative, and some are quite beautiful. It's fun walking through it and the displays make for good photo backdrops. The setting of being in a parking lot does take away some of the charm. What really bothered us was that we reserved tickets for 9 PM and at 9:30 they turned off the lights and started to close. People were really upset, us included, because we did not intend to pay for only half an hour of walking through this. If they're going to close at 9:30, they should not sell tickets past 8:30 at least. Some people argued and said that they are stealing our money, so finally the guys running it said it was a misunderstanding, and that they were turning the lights back on until 10; but then at 945 they turned them off again anyway. Maybe this confusion was because it just opened, and they will get the times right; meanwhile, to be safe, don't enter later than 830 because it won't be worthwhile. read more

DMV Winter Lantern Festival - Festivals Near Me - Tysons, Virginia