At LAST I'VE SEEN THE light... or balloons. This review is for Pittsburgh. It was managed smoothly with plenty of parking and security. It was from 5 to 9:30 PM in 95° weather... Couldn't you make it cooler, huh! Anyway, it was so hot we had to get umbrellas for shade. The entertainment was on a stage and were sappy folk singers who sang some pop and mournful songs and some were off tune. Then they had a dance party for kids. Basically just sat in the heat for 4 hours. You can bring your own food but they also had food and beer trucks. The lines grew so long that I walked away and some ran out of food. The lantern part lasted for 10 minutes and was cool. Even though there were a couple thousand people it would have been better with more people. RECAP: 1. Change the weather so it's not so hot. 2. Get MORE food trucks and have a food truck festival. 3. Get better singers and bands. 4. Have more games besides bean bag toss. 5. Allow more people in, so there's more balloons read more

See all

THE FEW MINUTES WE SPENT LOOKING UP AT THE LANTERNS WAS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL AND BLESSED FEELING. HOWEVER, I WOULDN'T DO THIS AGAIN, UNLESS ITS CLOSER TO LOS ANGELES AREA. THE 15 MINUTE EXPERIENCE JUSTIFIED THE LONG RIDE. HOWEVER, THE FACT THAT THEY POSTPONED THE EVENT FOR THE NEXT DAY, AND ME LIVING IN LA PUT US IN A BIND. Our experience was supposed to happen Saturday, 03/17/2018. My fiance had requested the day off and we got a rental that morning because we knew it wasn't close. As we are getting on the 5 fwy from LA around 11am, I search my email for the tickets and find an email in my spam, stating event was postponed. The email was received at 10:45am! I was so disappointed. I could not believe they waited until that very day to postpone it due to weather, if they had checked the forecast days in advance they would've known to postpone it sooner. My fiance and I debated to go the next day, after much discussion we agreed to go, he had to call in sick and kept the rental a second day. Which basically means we spent/lost more money trying to do this experience. Sunday morning, I search my email, everything looked good, tickets show 03/18/2018. So we drove out three hours, we couldn't wait for the magic to happen. However, leading up to the very moment was such a drag with the drive and the wait, because they don't tell you when the launch will happen. We arrived around 5pm, drove on a dirt road for about 10 minutes, with dirt kicking up in the air, you would think they could atleast spray it with water considering how much we paid for our tickets. Anyway, we arrived there, got out bracelets, lanterns and pens. Registration was easy, security checked bags and backpacks. As you walk into the event they had about 10 stands, including pizza, beer, hot dogs, boba, ice cream, carne asada tacos and chicken tenders. There was also a store selling t-shirts and inflatable tube sofas. My fiance and I opt-in on the personal pizza and soda while we waited. There was no sitting area, you had to have brought your own chairs or blankets. Luckily, I had a blanket in our rental but we still decided to stand because of all the dirt. There was a stage and they had a few people sing, it was cool, but around 7pm the same singer was just annoying. There was nothing else to do but stand and listen to the performer, we were in the middle of the desert. This is called a festival, they should have had face painting, water contests, popcorn idk, just more! It lacked the festival feel. Finally, we lit up our lanterns at 7:45pm, they advised us to release the lanterns at the same time so it would be most magical. And they were right, the moment the lanterns were up it was beautiful! LANTERNS IN THE MOONLESS SKY WAS WHAT GAVE THIS REVIEW 3 STARS, IT IS AMAZING. My fiance and I literally walked out at 8pm, (please note that we stood for 3 hours) we didn't want to get stuck with everyone trying to get out. Before lighting our lanterns, they told us that they would have two lanes to exit. However, as we are drove away people didnt care and made their own lane. People drove fast and caused a ton of dirt kick up, which was not the safest conditions to drive in when its dark and there was no traffic lights nor street posts. Its such a beautiful experience but started as a drag and ended like a drift. I hope over time this event experience improves for those to come. read more

Stunning! So so stunning! Watching the sky being dramatically lit up with your loved ones makes the moment sentimental and romantic. Makes you all gooey and wish you can hug your absent loved ones right then and there. This event is perfect for bonding with family and friends. I highly recommend this event to share with your loved ones. You will not regret it. Buy your tickets early online. The cheaper tickets gets sold out fast and sometimes, all tickets get sold out way before the event. They close online ticket purchasing on the day of the event. There are no assigned tiki torch spot. Come early, park close to exit, and pick your ideal spot. If you have kids, I recommend being close to the stage so they can participate with dancing and winning freebies. Come prepared for a sandy and dusty event. You can bring pretty much everything except weapons, and alcohol and lanterns from outside. You can purchase food and drinks (beers, included) inside. They have a souvenir shop where you can purchase t-shirts, inflatable air bed sofa (perfect for snuggling in this weather), etc. Your lantern packets comes with marker and mini flashlight. Most importantly, come relaxed and stress-free. Bring your happy self and have lots of fun! It's a picnic with live music and a dramatic end. read more

See all

Really disappointed with the pricing and the event notification. I really loved being at the Lights fest in 2018 at Imperial with reasonable pricing of about $30 per adult. I have been waiting to visit again since then. Seems like the communication is really bad about the event in Southern California and I dint know until after the event happened. I have been following closely this time, however there was no way to be notified of the early bird ticket pricing. It awfully costs $167 for two adults. Huge bummer!! read more

I purchased three tickets and could not attend. Their voucher clearly states they will issue a refund (see picture) and despite asking three times very politely, they've not refunded my money. So - I'm left with leaving negative reviews everywhere I possible can. Such a shame. read more

The Lights Fest - Festivals Near Me - Imperial, California

The Lights fest is something you gotta experience at least once in your life. Definitely with a significant other and family & friends! The moment we lite up the lanterns, it was one of the most beautiful things to see and take pictures with. The reason why I did not give this a 4/5 despite how beautiful it was.. I was worried throughout the whole month whether it was going to be postpone due to the weather, people lighting up their lanterns before the fire Marshall's said it was ok to do so, the heat/dust, and the traffic you have to deal with going there and out. (But either way, I mean what do you expect? It's a festival. Of course you'll deal with traffic.) Also, it was kind of dangerous due to the tikis being so close that it can light our clothes or hair on fire if you aren't careful watching your surroundings. It's true that going to this festival is a 50/50 chance because it all depends on the weather. The less wind, the better. If there's more wind (besides cloudy/rain), most likely the event will be canceled and you have to deal with the whole rescheduling and or even getting your $$$ back chaos. But that's just because of safety reasons which I do appreciate however it sucks at the same time when it's postponed. (People who booked hotels, flights, and had to call off work for this event.) Despite the chaos, I was blessed to come to this event on the right time and weather at Imperial, CA last Saturday. This festival gave me a reason to let my worries aside and let it out by writing on our lanterns and just having a wonderful time with my significant other. Pictures esp were very beautiful! When this day finally came, I was finally at ease that it was actually going to happen and I wasn't going to deal with the whole rescheduling and $$$ issue. Thank you lights fest for a memorable night! read more

See all

Me and a friend attended the Lights Fest in the "Toronto Area" (Grand Bend) last night and they did NOT deliver. First, tickets were 65$ American per person, and parking costs 40$ per car. With this amount of money being funneled in by over 5000 people they could have kept some promises. They advertised local vendors, but there were no vendors present. They advertised food trucks and there were 3 present so the lines were insane and one truck showed up late. They advertised local artists, it was two guys from Illinois who sang song requests all night on a sound system you couldn't hear across the field. The actual lights were cool so that's the only reason I'm giving 2 stars at all. BUT it got dark, and people got excited about the main event and started getting ready, people waited for about 10 min for a go ahead and when nothing was communicated, no one said anything, so a couple of people lit off lanterns and the MC ran onto the stage and told everyone to stop and that they would postpone if anyone did it again and how they were 'ruining the experience' and only THEN proceeded to explain how they were going to do a demo and then get the go-ahead (all things that they could have announced earlier to avoid confusion). Finally, parking was mayhem, paying 40$ per car and then cramming them in like sardines, no aisles for people to get out, cars bumper to bumper, and NO ONE came out to help direct traffic, it was a free for all, the POLICE showed up to help divert traffic, not one of the people in marked vests who had helped with parking earlier, it took over 2 hours for everyone to get out, we know, we were one of the last to leave. This experience could have been better organized and delivered the expectatons that you were paying for. read more

Event was postponed the day of due to high winds. Understandable but should've been notified earlier. Address to the place is farther than where it actually is. You just keep going and turning down dirt paths and then one long one where there are absolutely no signs down the entire way, except the one "the LIGHTS" flag that was all the way in the beginning before you turned in. One part was extremely bumpy, all the cars around me were shaking like crazy, but it gets somewhat smoother later on. As we were going down the path, we passed the actual location, our maps saying it was 15min away as we kept going on. We went around the time the event is said to start, 4:00pm, and there weren't too many people there and everyone was so confused after getting out the cars lol just hearing everyone's chatter. Sign in was easy despite the volunteers having some difficulties. You go in and sit by a tiki torch and theres some food trucks and barely any vendors. There's a stage where 3 total performers played the whole night. I thought there'd be more to do but we ended up sitting there for a while. The only part that made up for everything was releasing the lanterns. It was truly beautiful to see as everyone released it, i didn't even imagine it to be that nice. They gave some instructions but literally directly after it they started count down to release the lanterns, "5,4,3..." a family later came by us so we had to share the tiki torch and we didn't get to release it when they counted down, same goes for a lot of people. After like 10 minutes of release, people were still lighting their lanterns. It was only fun at night, as for the 15-20 minutes of watching lanterns, but definitely 100% not worth the price you are being charged for. read more

I am taking the time to type out this review because I think the lack of security is a huge opportunity for the lights festival. I attended the event today 11/10/2018 in Imperial, CA. Here are a couple of bullet points to describe my experience Security: - I don't understand why there aren't any type of security guards checking bags for weapons at the entrance - There aren't any metal detectors and if anything, only 2 securities walking around - With thousands of people attending an event and the world we live in, you can't take chances! Environment: - The stage is way too small and only 25% of the attendees are able to see it. There is no interaction with the rest of the public - Why do doors open at 12? 8 hours before a 10 min event happens - The instructions say there will be no more people able to enter after 6, and there were a lot of people coming in 10 minutes before the event happened - Bring more probs and visuals to make it worth the experience, also more games that you can play at night. Please take into consideration the feedback I have given, especially the security part since there are thousands of people gathered together at once. To any future attendees: Bring tons of baby wipes, your hands and face will be full of dirt !!!! read more

100% worth it for the 10 minutes of lantern time, it is definitely breathtaking, no picture can really capture it. Definitely please read reviews (this one and others) before you buy tickets. If you don't plan this out in advance, it can be awful. Buying Tickets - Bought mine in advance and when the date was switched from 11/3 to 11/10, I had to refund 3/10 tickets I bought. They did give a refund if you email them and ask but they do not refund the service charge money (so if you paid $30, $5 for service charge, you only get $30 back) Driving/Arriving - NOT worth it to go early, plan to arrive around 5:00 PM and it'll be fine, they still let cars in well after organizers said they wouldn't - 1.5 hour drive time from SDSU area to address given. Once on Wheeler road, it took 3 miles to get to the actual place that's only a dirt road. Took around 25 minutes to park and less than 10 to walk into the venue. - Very shoddy cardboard signage NOT lit up on the way in. As you get closer there's slightly more official signage. Make sure you have the right address on your phone before leaving because one car in our party had entered the Wheeler road address taking them 30 minutes to a DIFFERENT Wheeler road. - No security check upon entering, kinda concerning considering the number of people at this event. - When you present your tickets you get a bracelet, a sharpie, and a lantern (that's all you paid $30+ for). You could have technically gone to this event for free. - The hardest part was to find a place to sit (since we came late). Your goal is to sit by a tiki torch. Our group ended up sitting 10 ft away from a torch and it was fine. Pre-Lights Time - Music is fine, the screen is incredibly small for the 10,000 people audience - A marriage proposal occurred and it was incredibly rude of the host to talk during the guy's entire proposal. Also, not my favorite DJ choice to play Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" after the marriage proposal. - Porta Potties had no lighting inside and no toilet paper - Someone lit their lantern before it was officially time and I thought it was incredibly dangerous for the host to say "If you see someone lighting a lantern ahead of time I give you permission to physically stop them". Like ?????? We were seated near that family that lit the lanterns early and it could have been a huge physical fight that did NOT need to be escalated by the host. Actual Lights Time - It looks incredible when it happens 100% made it worthwhile. It's all over on about 10-15 minutes. - Someone set off fireworks which looked cool but also seemed a little dangerous?? - It's kinda difficult to take pictures, even on an iPhone X, because the lighting is so bad. Just enjoy your time. Post Lights Time - People make a mad dash back to their cars. There are NO markers for parking, so try your best to remember where you parked and no one IN the lot guiding you so it's a total zoo. There are people guiding people out of the car lot but only at the perimeters. - Some got their car tires stuck in the sand. Be careful of the dips! TLDR: Things I'm glad I brought: my own food/drink, chairs, & wet wipes Would I recommend this to others: Yes, when all the lanterns release it's like nothing I've ever seen, truly magical. Just be prepared! read more

Took a trip to Stonyford,CA to see the Lights Fest. Great road trip and event takes place in a rural area up in the mountains. Great view on the path headed to event. Parking gets crowded fast has to walk very far through uneven terrain so taking a stroller was a challenge. If possible pack light. Definitely will need mats or pop up chairs. Music was great! Live performer who sang song covers and original pieces also. Be sure to follow directions for lanterns and be patient so lanterns launch correctly. Beautiful experience for you and loved ones! read more

I attended the Lights Fest in Imperial, CA on November 10, 2018. Here's my feedback for anyone interested in this event. 1. Don't bother going too early. They open the gates at 12 noon. Why would you go and sit out in the dirt all day? Just plan to arrive maybe 1-2 hours max before the lanterns are scheduled for lift off. That is plenty of time to spend at the festival. That silver bouncy house thing could have been cool - but was only filled with kind of lame toys, glow sticks and posters. 2. Very concerning was the absence of ANY SECURITY whatsoever. No one checked me or my bag upon entering the festival AT ALL. It made me a little paranoid in light of all the psycho shooters out there in the world today. I did see several security officers patrolling the area and THEY were armed, and even one of them told me he was wearing a bulletproof vest. I'm glad he was safe, but what about the rest of us in the 5,000-10,000 person crowd? That is a massive liability. They need to have metal detectors and bag checks for all attendees. 3. There should be more food trucks - as the lines at each were incredibly long and the people working were so confused and overwhelmed. I got a fiesta bowl from on the the Mexican food trucks and the people working that truck were completely over their heads. People were missing their orders, and they got my very simple order totally wrong - twice? 4. The bands/music were pretty bad to be honest. I assume they were local musicians and they just sang cover tunes. 5. Try to get some idea of the area/roads before you go, especially if you don't have an SUV or big truck. If the Event FAQs had mentioned that I would be driving for 4 miles on a "washboard dirt road" I may have thought twice about going. Horrible for a small car that rides low to the ground. 6. After parking, I reminded myself to take notes on how many steps and in what direction my car was because there were NO MARKERS and it would be VERY EASY to get totally confused and LOST looking for your car later. Take notes! 7. Once I realized that with only one road in and one road out, the mass exodus could be a potential nightmare, so I decided to make a run for it as soon as I got my photos and videos of the lift off. I had no plans to get stuck in that mess. 8. Last but not least - the lantern lift off IS SO SO SO BEAUTIFUL! Such a cool and unique experience. So happy I got to see it for myself. read more

This place is an unorganized joke. The MAIN problem with this event is that there is ABSOLUTELY zero security. You don't even have to buy tickets because no one checks anything or anyone at the gate. Bring your own wish lanterns/booze/dogs/coolers/food if you'd like. There had to be a few thousand people at the event and they don't search anyone bags or coolers. In the midst of all the shootings happening nationwide, this place should be fined heavily for having zero security in the middle of the desert. Also, the music sounded like karaoke night at a dumpy dive bar on a Tuesday. It was cool when the lights went off but not having security was definitely leaving people with feeling of paranoia. read more

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER! Tickets were crazy expensive and then they switched the even from 11/3 to 11/10 in SoCal and dropped prices by more than half. When I asked for a partial refund for the inconvenience and quality of service saying they wouldn't do that due to their terms of service. So I opened a case with my credit card company asking for a PORTION back. Then when they got wind of this I received another email saying they would refund me if I wanted a refund and deemed my ticket inactive for the festive and wouldn't reactive it unless they got notice I had cancelled the dispute. A bit threatening if you ask me. Also THIS WAS THE DAY BEFORE THE EVENT. So I asked for a refund and repurchased a ticket to make sure I would get in as my friends an I already booked a hotel and made plans to drive 4 hours for this. So my friend got the same response and I asked her to resend me the link to repurchase. The url clearly said SoCal on it and AFTER purchase it was for the Arizona lights fest on the same weekend. So I opened another dispute with my credit card company because they of course denied a refund and said they would transfer my tickets to another festival. I replied telling them I already attended the SoCal one and won't be doing this again as they have atrocious customer service. Needless to say the finally said they would refund my original ticket but in the form of a check!! How archaic is that???? Still working on a refund for the other one. BE AWARE: they have no phone number to call. Everything is through email... Find another vendor that does this lantern thing cause these guys are a rip off. read more

I was totally hesitant in purchasing these tickets based off of the mixed reviews I've read online about these type of events. Decided to take the risk because those beautiful pictures and videos were too good to pass up. We purchased tickets for 3/17/18 event in Imperial, CA. Just our luck, the morning we were about to head out for the event we get an email saying it's been postponed due to unforeseen weather circumstances. When this type of thing happens they will normally reschedule for the following day, if weather permits, or give you the option of rescheduling for a future date. Those smart enough to have bought the insurance with the tickets are given the option of a refund. I was determined to go so I declined insurance... rebel! March 17 ended up being a very windy day, but the following day was perfect. So 1030 am off we went from Los Angeles to Imperial. We managed to get there in about three and a half hours with no traffic. Score! We had lunch in a restaurant off the last city before entering the desert since they warned us in the email that some of the vendors may not return for the rescheduled date. Entered the event a little before 4 pm. WARNING: the last maybe 15 mile drive to the event is an off road/bumpy path. Luckily I have an off road SUV that made the ride bearable. I did however see a lot of sedans making the trip with little problem, but I'm sure they weren't too happy inside the car. LoL! Just make sure to follow the path and do not stray even to pass slower cars or else you will get stuck and need to be towed! The path to the festival is marked by their logo flags, but if you see cars driving in the desert chances are you're all going to the same spot. Make sure to wear boots because there's a lot of dirt, duh it's a desert, and bring layers because it does get chilly the minute the sun starts setting. They had several local artists performing, people and children dancing and enjoying, several food trucks showed up, an over abundance of porta-potties, and lots of security and emergency personnel. When the sun went down they set off the test lantern. You could feel the excitement in the air, along with the cold breeze that is! Everyone got their decorated lanterns prepped. They did the count down and played some heart felt music in the background and 1800 lanterns went up in the air. I wish I could have frozen that moment in time. It was absolutely breathtaking! There are honestly no words to describe it. The beautiful pictures and videos people post online do not do this experience any justice. The whole thing was so quick. Don't think it was even 10 minutes and everyone was already packing up to go home. I really wished it wasn't a workday the following day or we would have stayed longer to enjoy the music that followed the lanterns. The ride back was crazy! They had two lanes leaving the event, but only one lane leaving the desert and back into the city. It was super dark! There were idiots in sedans driving all fast and crazy trying to make their own paths and kicking up more dirt in the air making visibility even worse. We made it back home in about four hours. Overall the experience was definitely worth the long drive, sitting in dirt for 4 hours, and the exhaustion at work the following day. It's safe to say my family and I will definitely be doing this again. Only thing we learned from this trip... 1) pack lightly. We brought way too much food and drinks. 2) bring a small camping table. We saw multiple groups with these small table where they had eaten and decorated their lanterns. So much easier than trying to sprawl out on the floor. 3) bring a blower. Lol we had those air couches and had such a difficult time catching air in them. The Lights crew sold their own that they inflated with a blower. Genius! For those people giving negative reviews because the event got cancelled and they couldn't get a refund.... seriously?! They give you so many warnings on the website, at checkout, and even through email weeks before the event saying that when you're buying the tickets there is a chance the event could be postponed due to weather! They can't predict mother nature's path 1-2 months ahead of time! Just buy the darn insurance if you're worried about not getting your money back. Don't blame them because you didn't read the fine print. I had just as bad of an experience with the cancellation as you guys, but we knew ahead of time this would be a possibility so we prepared appropriately. Do yourself a favor and give the experience another try. It's worth it! read more

See all

We went to the event in Imperial SoCal on Friday 3/23/18 rescheduled from Saturday 3/24/18. Everyone knows it's dependent on the weather. We get that. However they NEVER said that it could be moved to FRIDAY...they only said Sunday. To move it from a weekend to a work day was really inconsiderate and many people could not go. They were not helpful nor did they express appropriate courtesy. Their instructions were as if nothing had changed or no one was inconvenienced and everyone could make it. It was very insensitive to all the people who had planned flights, hotel rooms and travel arrangements. Luckily everyone in my family were able to make it. The launch was beautiful and breathtaking. However not enough instruction was given on how to light the lanterns or how they would float. You should probably Youtube it. You should get there a few hours ahead.They did have entertainment. It was one guy and he was pretty good. The launch is the cumulative event. After the launch you just go home. We drove for 4 hours, stayed an hour and left right after the launch. Couldn't be helped. Would have been better if we could have rested a little bit. Bring your own food and refreshments. They say no outside alcohol, but whateva. They didn't search hard at all. They do have a beer truck. The food trucks were limited, expensive and the lines long. The people working the event were really nice. The Porta Potties were sufficient and not too dirty. They say not to bring outside lanterns, but you're in the middle of the desert and fuck them since the corporate office has so little consideration for you. It's just to make money. Additional lanterns are sold for $10. The sky lanterns on Amazon look just like the ones were got. I didn't think you'd want to light more than one lantern, but you do end up wanting to light several more. So go get additional ones on line. Once you hit Wheeler, it's still a long ways to the spot. It's a bumpy / dusty road. There is a lot of dirt bikes and off roading nearby. Traffic leaving is drama. You should probably do this once in your life. If you decide to go, READ EVERYTHING and have a contingency plan. Figure out what you would do if your event got cancelled / moved / postponed. Chances are something will happen coz no one can predict the weather. Just be flexible and prepared. With all the shit that happened, my family was happy at the end. read more

See all

If you're going for the music part of festival it could be worth it. If you're going for the lantern part not recommended, there's better options. Pros of festival -You can take food and drinks in with you with exception of alcohol. -Played well known songs with semi famous artists. -can bring chairs and blankets to sit on. Cons -Website says you can have ticket on phone to scan -I had purchased extra lanterns but they didn't want to give them to me because I didn't have full receipt just QR codes they didn't scan. Thankfully had cell service and could pull them up. -The quality of the lanterns weren't great. The lantern fuel cell was terrible. -There were lanterns catching on fire before they were released. -As lanterns were being released you could see dead lanterns falling down within first 5-10 minutes of the lantern release. -There wasn't enough torches for the amount of people there. This caused the torch area to be overcrowded to the point if I stepped back or moved I would bump someone it felt claustrophobic. -The fuel they used to burn the torches left the area very Smokey I went home with soot on my face and hands. -People were walking on peoples blankets to get to the torches. -Came home with a large burn hole in my foldable blanket from someone's lantern catching on fire and falling on it read more

If I could give 0, I would. I bought three tickets for me and a few friends a few months ago for the 3/24 event. As stated by others, that was changed to the day BEFORE, 3/23. We would be driving two hours and we had booked a hotel for that night that we had to cancel last minute. They sent a change of date to my spam three days prior to the event. I completely understand that weather can be an issue but they only sent two spam emails and you know what, my fault for not always checking even though who checks their spam unless they have to BUT their policy states that if there is an event date change due to weather, it would be either the upcoming Sunday or within 90 days. I emailed them (because there is no contact#) with their policy clearly stated and that I wanted a least a partial refund. They stated their policy back at me saying they do not give refunds. If you state a policy you didn't even follow, I'm sorry but there is no merit behind your argument. I will be filing a complaint with the better business bureau because each ticket is 50 dollars and the way they treated the situation was unacceptable. read more

Not covid safe at all. The website says staff wear masks, which they do...under their chin. I only saw 1 of all the staff members wear a mask correctly. I saw a total of 107 people not wear a mask walking around. This is not including people who were just sitting on the field. It is also just not that worth the drive, especially when there are similar events in Oakland. read more

I purchased two tickets and the refund protection. I was unable to attend the festival scheduled in November and I requested a cancellation in a timely manner. My initial request was in October. I made subsequent requests and inquiries as to the status of my refund. I received an auto response to my emails and to date Dec 10, I haven't received my money. I think this has to be nothing more than a scam business. I rated them one star only because I had to. This is no way to treat customers. Thieves. read more

We had an amazing time, such a breathtaking experience. Thousands of lantern flying away! No words to describe how beautiful it was to experienced such a wonderful moment. read more

The Lights Fest - Festivals Near Me - Imperial, California

Disclaimer: this review is for the Mesquite/Littlefield event. Yes, a lantern festival is one of those things that you should attend at least once in your life however this one is not the one.. Like everyone else, I had these grand vision of lanterns lighting up the sky and flying away taking your messages to heaven however that was not the case. The lanterns took off and had a total flight of about 3 minutes; understand for fire concerns, however the lanterns should start to descend on the back end of the crowd as well as the paring lot and the road. It was a sad fact that you were running over and stepping peoples lanterns which 5 minutes ago held a thought and a heartfelt message. To me that killed it... I get that it that it has to be contained (to the best of your ability) but what a buzzkill to see everyone's precious messages get run over and stepped on once they came back to earth.. Trying to find the good: There were more than enough tiki torches for everyone to go around. Ample bathrooms Allowed for non-alcoholic drinks and food to be brought into the venue. Decent selection of food on site Traffic control leaving the venue was well organized and allowed for a quick exit from the track. The meh The production value of the rest program needed some attention. The entertainment was not very entertaining at all.. It consisted of a Ed Sheeran hopeful act rapping with a guitar. Definitely did not set the mood for the event.. For me, expectations and reality did not match on this event. Yes, we did get a few IG worthy pictures but aside from that was just not as expected... read more

By far one of the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. It felt surreal watching all the lantern go up, it almost look like we were in a dome full of stars. I recommend it to everyone, definitely worth it! Even if you only do it once you won't regret it read more

The Lights Fest - Festivals Near Me - Imperial, California

Came to the 11/16/19 event in Imperial, CA and was pretty disappointed. I've heard so many good things about the event that I really wanted to be a part of it. We drove 4.5 hours from the original address, then spent another hour driving up a dirt road. The dirt parking lot was broken into about 4 quadrants from what I can tell and only one way out. The event inside was completely unorganized, they didn't scan our tickets, and they didn't have enough tiki torches for everyone. The food vendors were slow and even ordering basic tacos took about 30 minutes to get. The MC/ entertainment kept repeating the same stuff, talk about burned out. Anyway, they didn't give much warning as to when they lanterns would be lit, there was no countdown either. Oh and they also didn't tell people that there would be a second round of the lighting of the lanterns. So the hundreds of people that were in the back with no tiki torches were SOL, the people that were waiting for food were SOL, etc. It was supposed to be such a beautiful experience but it was marred by lots of anxiety! Once we heard that there was going to be a round two, we stayed for it bc we didnt drive 5 hours to leave disappointed. People started leaving because they lit their lanterns the first time around, but the second go around, while still disorganized, was better than the first time. The venue? Well, you drive an hour on a dirt road and there's no bathrooms anywhere. You literally have to walk inside and walk across everything to get to the portable restrooms. Being 8.5 months pregnant, this reallllyyyy sucked. The exiting was the worse part of all. They announced that there were about 8k people in attendance so let's say there were between 3.5 to 4 thousand vehicles. There was NO ONE directing traffic on this one way out parking lot. It was horrendous. Everyone was so frustrated that they weren't merging or letting cars from different quadrants out. Keep in mind, we stayed for the second round of lantern lighting. We were able to watch the Pocahontas movie from the time that we pulled out of our parking spot and the time we got onto a main road. Shame on the venue for leaving all those thousands of cars to fend for themselves. This event might've once been a beautiful thing, but now it's just run by a bunch of people that are over the whole thing and it shows. Stop wasting people's time and stop putting on such disorganized messes. read more

Just wish they woulda cancelled the day before Atleast, because my Bf and I drove from SD, and the event got cancelled when we were 20 mins away from the venue, it was a waste of gas, and we had to drive back the next day on Sunday again, and I had to work go to work Sunday in the morning and then Sunday at 11pm... I had to cancel my work day in the morning, but I still had to go in at 11pm, so literally after the event was over, we drove back to San Diego, so I could go to work, I had to go with out sleeping! And I wasn't off till Monday @ 3pm... it was the most tiring day for me, going to the event then straight to work, don't get me wrong, the night there was beautiful, which only lasted about 15 mins and we had to leave a little before it was over so we could be the first ones and not get stuck in traffic, but I just wish it was was a little more planned, I mean the whole week the forecast said it was going to be windy, so why not cancel the event a few days before? It wasn't worth the money we paid, 2 tickets for 120? When we coulda watched the whole thing for free in parking lot -___- read more

The Lights Fest - Although this even was cancelled on Saturday, I still had a great time Sunday, such great vibes and beautiful night - Festivals Near Me - Imperial, California

See all

Just don't do it. They have the worst customer service and I haven't gotten a refund for tickets I've bought back in 2018.

Last second "rescheduling". Terrible communication. I ended up not being able to go and never got my money back. Pretty sure this is a scam.

DO NOT DO THIS. They are a SCAM. Been reported to the Better Business Bureau. They took our money for 4 tickets back in October and then cancelled the event and changed location 3 times! NEVER REFUNDED OUR MONEY!! Over 400 spent! They have NO phone number and only an automated email that they send back. IT IS A SCAM!! DO NOT DO THIS!! read more

This could have been a LOT better. We bought the tickets because there was going to be two shows...a sunset show which was supposed to be around 7:00PM and a midnight show (for New Years Eve...2020/2021). There first band/singer was horrible. My teenage kids said she was worse than anything they've ever heard...and they've heard a lot. People near us made the same complaints...and her "show" seemed to go on forever. To me, she sounded like animals heading to the slaughter house. We began wondering since it was way past sunset, when the lights were supposed to be lit so we asked the staff. They told us at midnight. We began complaining and spoke with the fire department personnel and began making a scene. The sheriff told us that they were informed that an earlier show was supposed to begin but we kept waiting. I asked to speak to the manager to get a refund since we weren't planning on staying until midnight and driving home with a bunch of drunk drivers (I did say this was New Years Eve). Finally, after many people complained, they said they'd begin the first show at 8:30....so we waited another 1.5 hours. Was it fun? No! Was it worth it? Perhaps, only because one of our kids wanted to see it for a long time...but she was less than thrilled with the event. The grounds consisted of dry grass and it was a fire hazard and the fire department personnel were very busy!! The food looked pretty bad and expensive but at least the Kettle corn was good...perhaps the highlight of the show. This is one event that I wouldn't recommend due to its value and how unorganized it was. read more

They won't refund your order if they move the event or change the date. They say they will but I'm going on 2 months and finally got an email claiming I didn't submit a refund for my order number. Feel free to review my pictures added. Just be cautious. Good luck getting a refund. read more

See all

SCAM!!! I bought two tickets for the London fest two years ago. It was cancelled but I never got my money back. I have written to them multiple times and never got any reply. read more

One of the most beautiful and peaceful things I have ever experienced. Very family friendly. Affordable. The entertainment Kai was awesome. Thank you for your moment of silence for the victims of 1 October the people of Vegas Appreciate that more then you will ever know. Awesome job guys and thank you for bringing this to Vegas. Parking situation and leaving at the end was a little congested but is to be expected with such narrow roads out. Can't wait till next year. read more

The Lights Fest - Festivals Near Me - Imperial, California

See all

Horrible, Horrible experience we paid for this show that was supposedly going to happen in barstow CA only to arrive and seeing a sign from the city saying the vendor had canceled and none of the other attendees had received emails or refunds!!!!! There was a family of 10 that would add up quickly to over 1k since y'all charged us $140 or something like that. We drove from Laguna hills for this disappointment. The least y'all can do is refund our money!!!! read more

SOLUTION: I'm putting this at the beginning of my review because I found a way to get my money back. It is criminal what this company is doing and so I hope others are able to use the same remedy. First off, still request a refund via the email they send out when they "merge" or "cancel" the event. It shows you are doing your part. If after several weeks you don't hear back, try one last ditch effort of emailing them. You likely won't hear back again. At this point file a "chargeback" claim with your credit card company/bank and explain the situation to them. They'll want to know you did your part in requesting the refund and trying to make contact. I use Wellsfargo and they were super friendly and accommodating throughout the entire claim. They froze any interest that may have accrued from the initial charge, and after one phone call and a few weeks, Wellsfargo refunded me the entire amount. I hope TheLightsFest gets investigated ASAP and is put out of business for the fraudulent business they are running! I don't even know where to begin with this horrific experience. I purchased tickets for this event back in May of 2019 for the event in November 2019 in Barstow. Only about 1.5 hours from me, totally doable! So the months pass by, I keep it in my calendar that I have to be there November 23. Fast forward to November 22, and I search my email for the address of the event, only to find in my SPAM that the event had been "MERGED" with an event that occurred the weekend before on November 16. Ummm, what? To add salt to the wound, the event that they merged it with was in Imperial, CA, nearly 4 hours from me. Not okay at all, and at this point I just want my money back. I'm more disappointed than mad, and I understand weather issues, but merging an event with another one that is a) 3 hours further and b) a week before the actual event takes place is just horribly inconvenient on customers who specifically chose that time and location for a reason. So at this point, the email says you can request a refund. Cool, seems pretty straightforward right? I mean, the company can't control the weather and regardless of the inconvenient merging of events, at least they're offering a quick refund... NO. A big fat NO. I sent in my request for a refund. Nothing. Weeks went by. Nothing. I resent another request, reached out to their Facebook account. Nothing! Not even an email reply stating they received the request. This entire situation has been frustrating because it comes off like a scam. You cancel my event, merge it with an event that is hundreds of miles further, and schedule it the week before my actual event takes place (if you don't expect your event to be cancelled, why would you be looking for any emails regarding changes?!) The fact that they did not swiftly provide refunds to the people that requested them is a scam that needs to be rectified. I never write these reviews. I'm never angry or passionate enough to do it. But TheLightsFest are running a scamming business and good people are losing money and time. From reading all of the reviews, it almost seems as if they bank on the fact that they will cancel an event last minute, "merge" it with another event, and then avoid issuing refunds so that make a huge profit. Not a legal practice at all. To the poster that mentioned buying insurance? This isn't about buying insurance. I was able to attend the event, I was all set to go to the event. Insurance is an added guarantee that you will get a refund in case personal issues prevent you from attending. This was not the case for any of these people, as TheLightsFest canceled the event on their end. Insurance isn't intended to insure that TheLightsFest refunds you when they don't make good on their event... BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY AND UNDERSTAND THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE LOST MONEY OVER AN EVENT THAT NEVER OCCURRED! read more

The Lights Fest - Refund email that the company sends out. Submitted the request for refund twice but heard nothing back. - Festivals Near Me - Imperial, California

I bought tickets for me and my mom and it got postponed due to Covid (fair). I would have much prefer a refund because my mother is elderly but there are no refunds. So we are forced to go to the reschedule time for April 3rd at Stoneyford, CA which isn't a COVID SAFE EVENT. The details of the event were sent out today and MASK ARE OPTIONAL!!! It literally reads, " if you wish to wear a mask, please be sure to bring your own". I'm positive California did not lift any mask mandates yet. This company is trash. Please find another light festival. read more

They do not honor their published refund policy on refundable tickets (they charge an extra fee for this "refund protection"). I'm sure that it's illegal for them to renege on their contract, but their customer service is terrible and they do not seem to care. I'm looking into pursuing this further because I don't want them to get away with essentially lying to people and taking their money. There's no way that this experience is worth supporting an unethical business. I think if you read the reviews of the people who attended the event, you'll agree that you should spend your money elsewhere. read more

If I could give zero stars I would. What a garbage company. Drove 2.5 hours to only find out the event had been rescheduled for the following weekend. The weather is great, so my only guess is so the company can make money on all the tickets they sold, as they aren't refundable! Absolute trash read more

It was the first time when I attended this this event in Chicago this year. It was so magical! It's impossible to explain in worlds that moment when all Sky Lanterns are in the air and you're feeling so much happiness, energy and beauty. I remember a feeling I never felt before it was a massive joy and excitement. I recommend this event for everyone. You'll have a great evening surrounded by people you love. It's something very special and you don't want to miss it. read more

See all

I purchased tickets for the Nov 3rd event. Right then I sent emails with questions and I never got a response back. Then I decided to book a hotel for that night. Turns out after I had my trip booked and planned, the event was rescheduled for the 10th. I had to pay 70 dollars extra to change my hotel confirmation, also, I only have my daughter every other weekend. so on the 10th my daughter is with her dad. I know things happen, and this event is dependent on weather, but they should have better customer service and help us with refunds or comp tickets or something when things happen. I haven't even seen the lights yet, and im already annoyed and disappointed. The reviews are low so I'm guessing I am not the only one. Come on lights fest, get it together. read more

I was looking forward to going to this event, and had planned this with my fiance ahead of time as we knew the drive was far. Here's what went wrong. 1. The coordinators emailed all ticket holders the day of to say their event was canceled. How horrible is that? Some people had to book hotel rooms because of how far it was and to cancel the day of is uncalled for. It would have been better if they gave at least two days notice as a warning. 2. NO refunds. My boss had mentioned her husband and family had booked tickets but ended up not going due to the event being canceled. I decided to buy ticket insurance through ticket guardian and they're processing my claim right now. If you do decide to buy these tickets, be cautious and the insurance isn't that much. 3. A follow up email telling others to read their FAQ. I read their FAQ and I'm sure others have BUT their excuse was their inbox was filling up. It's your JOB to reassure your customers NOT throw a fit. 4. Expecting others to easily move around their schedule and their money. It's not easy to fork out up to $65 dollars and then book a room. The fact that they wanted to postpone it to a Sunday where others have work the next day is RIDICULOUS. Don't waste your money and time. I'm sure you'll get the same effects in Tangled. read more