This would be ok for a date night or something fun to do with kids - but I think the event was over priced and unorganized overall. I attended the event in Lexington KY at the Kentucky Horse Park. The event was around $30 per ticket and they advertised live music, vendors, and food trucks or you were also welcome to bring your own food and drinks. Parking at this event was also $10 bringing the total minimum cost to $40 for one person or $70 for two people. The pond being used had a divider to keep the lanterns in a specific area - this was very disappointing because it took away from the random pattern of the lanterns floating freely. All the lanterns just ended up in a single line next to the divider. The event itself was very unorganized. There was a tiny stage for live music - which I never saw anyone performing and the speaker situation was set up so you could only hear if you were right next to it. No one around the pond could hear music or announcements or anything. There were only 3-4 vendors set up and around 3 food trucks and 1 sweet truck. There was no place to sit and eat so you had to take your purchase back to your area or stand to eat. I would suggest - just buy a water lantern kit from Amazon and do this yourself. You can get like 20 lanterns for $30. read more

Overpriced and badly organized. You can't even find a spot around the little pond to put your lantern in without stepping on someone just sitting there. Absolutely not worth it! Edmonton, Rundle park read more

Was incredibly poorly organised and misadvertised. The was a grand total of 1 food vendor and we queued for 2 hours in the line for it. Bringing your own food was prohibited and bags were checked on entrance. Some people were queuing much longer. The queue for the porter loos was also extremely long and the queue for the 1 drinks vendor was also about an hour long. The whole event was just queuing. A lot of people went home early. The traffic to get in and out of the event was insane. The view was pretty once it was dark, but everyone had left by then and it wasn't a view worth the money we paid at all. A lot of upset and angry people at that event. read more

Water Lantern Festival - The INSANE queue for the one food vendor. Brining own food is not allowed. 2 + hours wait for food. - Festivals Near Me - Arlington, Texas

See all

We purchased tickets the Water Lantern Festival that was supposed to have happened in Green Bay, WI, on 7/19. We aren't sure if it happened in a different location than the website said, if they posted the date wrong, cancelled the event last minute, or if it was just an all-around scam... but the event never happened. At least, not at the date and time our tickets and their website told us. We're super disappointed-- not only because the event never happened, but also before we received no further communication to explain the situation. We weren't the only people who showed up to the park confused... and worse, there was no way for any of us to get any more information on why we all bought tickets to an imaginary event because they conveniently don't have contact info listed except an email no one checks on weekends. Save your money and your time and don't buy tickets! read more

Incredibly overpriced tickets $39.99 each and then taxes and fees were more than a price for a ticket - $42.00!!! Both my lantern and my daughter's lantern sunk. 4 of the 6 lanterns broke - the thin sticks inside holding up the paper broke in half. read more

This event was held in Bend Oregon this past weekend and they have been banned from ever coming back. This is a "for profit" company that mislead the permit department when they allowed this event to happen. They sold their lantern and skipped town and left the local people to clean up. Please don't support this organization. And read the fine print about them. These lanterns are not made of rice and sticks, They are plywood and LED plastic lights for the most part. https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/water-lantern-festival-officially-banned-from-bend-after-lanterns-pollute-deschutes/article_3bf7935c-3bbb-11ee-8251-0344dfbade66.html read more

Water Lantern Festival - Festivals Near Me - Arlington, Texas

Went to the 2025 festival in Knoxville, TN at Chilhowee Park. Overall it was a fun time. There was a good variety of food trucks and craft vendors to choose from. Not a lot, but a good variety. The tickets were $30, but they make it seem like if you don't buy in advance you'll miss that price, which wasn't true. The $30 ticket price was extended until the day of the festival online. Also expect to pay ticket fees of at least $5 per ticket. The festival pretty much consisted of 3 hours of free time before launching the lanterns into the water after sunset. During this time there was live music, a time for people to share what the festival meant to them, and time to get food/shop at vendors. Food lines were always long, so I wish they had more trucks there to accommodate. Unfortunately, a lot of the grassy area around the lake was absolutely covered in goose poop. Not sure if this was the park's fault or the event organizers, but it made setting up a blanket or chairs incredibly frustrating. There was nowhere to set food, belongings, etc. Additionally, when it came time to launch the lanterns, we were only allowed to put them in specific roped off areas of the water, despite it being a small pond. The videos online make it look a lot grander than it is. In reality, they resteict all the lanterns to one or two small areas. Overall it was a good time and a fun festival to attend, but ultimately there isn't that much to it and it could've been executed better. read more

Water Lantern Festival - Lanterns - Festivals Near Me - Arlington, Texas

Awful... I had to stand in line for 45 minutes to get some shaved ice and 25 minutes for a sandwich. We didn't enjoy the music for waiting in line as the music was well away. At the time of putting the lanterns in the water they only played some songs from an ipad. unfortunately not worth it read more

Water Lantern Festival - Festivals Near Me - Arlington, Texas

See all

Attended one of these in Palm Desert, CA. For starters, not being charged to park is refreshing. There were several hundred people there, not sure why we were given wrist bands when the event is in public place. Anyone could wander in, they just wouldn't get a lantern kit. Kits included a scavenger hunt, deck of playing cards, deck of conversation-starter cards, the lantern and one small felt pen of decent quality, bring more if you want colors. We wished we had a pencil for outlining. Ink will bleed through the paper a little bit, so use something in between the papers if you want it pristine. A lot of the event is sitting with the people you came with, so I thought it was a good insight to provide us with something to do. There were about a dozen food trucks and a few vendors selling their wares. Prices were typical. Sitting by the water seems like a good idea, but keep in mind that when the time comes to launch, lots of people will be walking/standing very close to your spot. Some higher ground a little further back might be more picturesque. Bring chairs or a blanket to sit on as well. If you're looking for a deeply spiritual event, this might not be it though. It's not the event's fault, it's just that there are hundreds of people, all with different reasons to be there. Some were celebrating, some were mourning, some just wanted something to do on a Saturday night, and each group behaved accordingly. I found it well-organized. I didn't stay long enough to know if they cleaned up well. They encouraged us to leave no trace in our personal area. And of course they can't just let the lanterns float off into the distance! Again, some of the one star reviews seem to have had unrealistic expectations. This isn't some centuries-old tradition, it's a small replica of one. Be sure to know the weather patterns for the area just after sunset. If you're facing the breeze, your lantern will float right back to you. You can see them bunched together on the far side of the lake in the picture. The lights beyond are the food trucks. read more

Water Lantern Festival - Festivals Near Me - Arlington, Texas

SHAME ON YOU! Your festival left hundreds of battery-operated plastic lanterns in the river after the event in Bend. They've been seen sinking to the bottom through a wide range of the river from Riverbend Park to the White Water park. This is unacceptable and your "commitment to ensuring a sustainable event" is complete bullshit. I hope every city runs you out of town before you get a chance to trash their waterways, too! https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cv1Lj2wguJf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D read more

Water lantern festival was super lame. The lanterns didn't hop anywhere because they had barriers very close to where we released them. They could have moved the barrier further down the water way and still could've easily retrieved. Kind of sad to write your hopes and messages to loved ones and then they all just sit there and go no where. I will not spend my time or money on this event again. read more

Water Lantern Festival - Festivals Near Me - Arlington, Texas

They canceled the event in Houston due to weather (the weather was fine) and now they are refusing to issue refunds. They have ignored several of my emails. Please do not get scammed by these crooks. read more

This company is only out there for the money. I bought 2 standard adult tickets for Tulsa, OK, on 5/25, but they cancelled the event the day of due to tornado warnings (despite there hardly being a cloud in the sky). Okay, fine. However, they refused to provide a full refund for my tickets even though my boyfriend and I wouldn't be able to attend the rescheduled event date. The best they could do was a partial refund of $44.33 when I originally paid $64.28 for 2 tickets. The $19.94 they couldn't refund was "processing fees," which even if that was true, the actual processing fees I originally paid for was $17.62 ($5.97 per ticket plus $5.68 other). They couldn't even do their processing fee math correctly. I recognize that I bought the non-refundable tickets, but the product/service I paid for was advertised as being on 5/25 in Tulsa, not a random other date months later, so to pay for something I never received seems like a tricky scam. 0/5 do not recommend. read more

Water Lantern Festival - Festivals Near Me - Arlington, Texas

Event was nice. Parking was $10, tickets $25-$40 for adults. Kids pay less There were live music, food trucks, lines were not too long. The lanterns were as promised. I'd say it was pretty organized. We got items as promised, a drawstring bag with the lantern kit inside, a marker, a wristband for who-knows-what, coz the area/ pond wasn't restricted to anyone, really. Anyone without tickets could go in, they just wouldn't get the lanterns. Nobody checked wristbands. I don't know how many folks came, from one side it was pretty full. I'd guess like 1000. This weekend offered lots of activities around DFw. Last weekend of state fair, Six Flags with the fright fest, Imagine Dragon concert. In the morning there was Pokémon Go fest in downtown. So competition was on. I wished there were more things for kids to do, like bounce houses. My kids enjoyed decorating the lanterns prior to releasing them. Organizers encouraged us to be grateful, thankful that we were alive, forgive ourselves and let go of the past, and to decorate the lanterns with meaningful words. I wonder if this is std operating procedure at each lantern fest. It'd also be nice to explain a lil about the history of lanterns. How did it come about. Why the Asians celebrate it. For days it rained prior to the event. Even yesterday it rained the whole day. So the pond's bank (I wouldn't call it a lake) was really muddy. We didn't want to get into muddy banks and dirtied ourselves. The organizers did the best they could. They put down rolls of rags but they needed to put down more. Overall. We recommend it if you've never been. read more

See all

Attended the Seattle event. Very crowded and no organization during latern float. It was a total free for all with thousands of people on a small access point of a lake. No crowd control, no ingress and egress. This could have been a cool event had they organized a clear flow of pedestrian traffic. I'll never attend another event by this organization and would advise others to avoid. read more

You are paying for a dollar store item and to litter the waters, not for the entrance fee. You're ALLOWED to enter the event area because it's a public space, please do not be duped by this shady company. Worst of all, they do not pick up after the event, and if they claim to do so, they still leave A LOT of trash behind. I'm not sure how any of this is permitted. read more

Brought my two kids (under 10), and two cousins (late 20's) The vibe was overall really good, great concept, could've been executed better. -They had FREE event parking, directed by staff, which is awesome! -There was no entrance gate, but a check in tent. Really you could've walked right in without a ticket but would not have received a lantern. -There were lawn games but there was no sign for them. -Food trucks were there, but not much variety. There were like three trucks out of 8 dedicated to Mac and cheese. -Plenty of space, wasn't worried about being crammed. -They sold glow sticks that didn't work, and when we went to the tent to exchange them, the guy just seemed annoyed. -This location was Buffalo, NY and the waves from the lake didn't allow the lanterns to float two feet across the water, they just kept being pushed back toward us. -As a side thought should add face painting. read more

See all

Attended the Tyson's Corner event and am giving this 1 star because I cannot give it zero. This is setup in an asphalt parking lot across from Tysons Corner parking garages. There is no rhyme or reason to the displays, they are just grouped according to 'theme' around the lot. Per an article I read on this, it was stated that it took approx. 1 hour to walk through and see everything - we were done in 20 min. It is absolute robbery to charge 30.00pp for this - especially since you could probably just stand at the fence and get the idea of this for free. Save your money (as others have also said). read more

No crowd control, poor planning, and a for-profit company using people's tearjerking stories for money. Went with my mom to the Chicago event and waited in line for 50 minutes with app. 1000 other people to launch our lanterns, but with 5 minutes left in the event and most people still in line, we left with our lanterns in hand. There was NO WAY that amount of lanterns could be launched in the hour allotted and in the very small access areas around the lake. The staff did nothing to manage lines and there was mass confusion. We may just launch the lanterns in my bathtub. read more

Absolutely a joke. Save your money. Promised "food trucks" got a kettle corn tent ? The event is like 5 hours. (Ran from 5-10) I paid for the "date night" package which after tax was like $84. Almost $100 for 5 hours of no food, the lanterns are a cheap balsa wood, we got this mandala blanket which let's be honest I can get 84 of them for the same price through oriental trading company. The staff wasn't super friendly either when my led candle needed to be replaced. Overall they're banking and the consumer suffers. So I emailed them, "well you attended so we can't refund you" didn't I HAVE to go to see how bad it was? Save your money read more

Had a good time with double date, maybe a little overpriced. Lots of places to eat, no parking so I got a ticket.

I attended the water lantern festival in Surprise, Arizona. It was one of the best experiences I have had. I paid the early bird ticket price and felt it was well worth it. There were at least 20 food trucks and all were reasonably priced. The overall vibe was so calm and uplifting. I met some amazing people with amazing stories. When it came time to launch, there were plenty of spaces to go and we had plenty of time to get our lanterns on the water. I left with a new hope that there are still great people in the world who care about others. I plan to go back as soon as the festival is back in AZ and will recommend it to everyone I know. read more

just went to the Boston event. so unorganized. the lines were endless, there were not enough food trucks (hour plus line at EACH one), did not plan for the tide and we couldn't even set lanterns out as it was low tide. would not go again. read more

As a vendor we had agreed on a percentage to be paid out and we put a deposit to vend there. We're pretty niche and didn't sell like some of the big trucks and didn't use all of the deposit. When I asked if I get paid back I got a "no man". It wasn't alot of money but I'm big on principles and honesty. Seriously do better. read more

Hard to find when arriving from the parking lot there is no signage anywhere. There were other large groups there so we were walking in circles for a while until we asked some folks who were also on their way. read more

These con artists came into our city, sold tickets to allow people to place plastic lanterns with LED lights in the river...and LEFT THEM IN THE RIVER to pollute our water. We have a volunteer group that dives and recovers debris, and in less than 24 hr, they had over 100 of these trash lanterns. Our whole community is NOT HAPPY, and we are figuring out how to prevent this "recreational litter" profiteers from ever returning. Does it look pretty- yes. But this organization does NOTHING to clean up. On to the next town with water to crap all over the environment for profit. read more

Worst event ever, don't waste your money! Literally $50 plus a ticket and you get a bag with a deck of cards, a marker and a put together lantern. The event had 2 food trucks with excessive long lines and they were soooo expensive, no alcohol at all, no band, literally nothing. They sell you a bag and you push it in the lake for $50 plus per person. Worst event EVER! Never ever will we attend this event! They are literally robbing people! read more

As a long time street performer I was out there on this day. As I was in mid performance, and as a crowd was gathering, 2 large white supremacists from this company interrupted me, and stopped my show to tell me that they had payed seven thousand dollars to perform at that location, ... ...and that I had to leave. If I had only known that they were not officially affiliated with foster city I would have not given up so easily. Based on the reviews of this event, I think that it would have been a better time for the general public to have free live music and a lantern festival, as opposed to a paid lantern festival with a couple of white guys blasting early 2000s hip pop through some cheap 4 gen old audio gear. read more

SCAM! The last event we attended in the Minneapolis/St. Paul location was a total joke! Around 5 hours of mostly people signing in with their pass to just sit around the park area with nothing to do, paying even more money for some cheapass balsa wood paper float with an LED candle, which you of course, sail off to the edge of a small corraled-off area of the local tiny lake (they drifted about 300 feet) and some locally hired generic backyard garage band played for about and hour and a half. The small handful of food trucks that did show were mediocre options at best. From what I heard from a friend who got suckered into working the event with other Craigslist ad respondents for $100 (being assured they'd only work 8 hours) - ended up working hours way past the event close into the early hours of the morning and threatened by their tour manager NO ONE WILL GET PAID until all of those drifting lanterns were retrieved off the water in pitch black conditions. Some poor volunteer even had to risk his life putting on a wet suit and dive into the lake (this was pitch black in the middle of the night, mind you) to finish efforts of the cleanup. What a joke for a traveling snake oil rinky dink operation. FOR PROFIT, not charitable. read more

It was very relaxing to sit on the lawn, listen to the music and make the lanterns. The shuttle bus to and from Eden park was well organized. We didn't have to wait. Great for families! read more

Water Lantern Festival - Festivals Near Me - Arlington, Texas

My wife and I got tickets to the orlando water festival . The address mentioned in the ticket was not clear. They mentioned Lakefront Park but there is a couple of lakefront park near orlando. We ended up going to the lakefront park in Kissimmee and when we reached there , we met two other couples who were looking for the same event!. They mentioned they walked all around the lakefront park and couldn't find the festival. It turned out the festival happened in another lakefront park. We all missed the actual festival but still had to pay for the trip. When I reached out to the organizers of the festival asking for a refund, they were unfortunately unapologetic about the mixup and refused to pay the refund as well. They mentioned the ticket can be transferred to another lantern festival but we are not sure we want to go to another festival. That said, in situations like this we feel we should be provided a refund. Also if we were the only ones went to the wrong location, we'd prlly just mark it as an operator error( vs something the organizers could have done better) . Anyways I was disappointed for not being able to attend the event , paying $70 for 2 tickets and wasting one of our Saturdays for this event that we were not able to go :-( read more

THIS IS A SCAM! We bought date night tickets with our friends and left immediately. There were barely any food trucks and there were like 4 vendors selling stuff. Theres absolutely nothing to do at all until the lantern launch and we weren't going to sit around for 3 hours doing nothing. What a waste of $80. Should have read the other reviews this company should be ashamed of themselves. read more

Purchased tickets for Chicago event 9/24. Received an email on 9/18 saying the event is rescheduled to 10/8 due to "unforeseen scheduling conflict". We cannot attend 10/8 so I emailed them for a refund but no response. After my 3rd email, they finally responded saying that they are unable to issue a refund. Wait what? YOU GUYS CHANGED THE DATE. This is unacceptable. If you google them, there are MANY negative reviews and complaints on Yelp and Better Business Bureau. Sounds like changing the dates last minute and not responding to emails when people request refunds are a common practice for them. Buyers beware. read more

Very enjoyable and relaxing. Free anxiety and pray for peace. Good time and a beautiful experience.

Do yourself a favor, save some money and buy a pack of lanterns on Amazon and go to the river or pond nearest you. I LOVED the festival in 2021 and we went with a group of friends. We didn't have to purchase a lantern to get in and there weren't outrageous fees attached to every ticket. It was beyond reasonable and we had a blast. THIS year however it was absurd. I couldn't believe that everyone has to have a ticket to get some wrist band in order to get in. Clearly they just want more money. Because everyone these days can never just do something without becoming overly greedy. I accidently checked out while looking at going because my kids loved it so much the year before. When I asked for a refund were they willing to? Definitely not. I didn't go and do you know what they said? I could attend another festival anytime within a year. What garbage. As if I'm going to drive hundreds of miles to another city to attend an overpriced festival. As someone who owns a business I've always believed it is only people who don't have confidence in their product who refuse refunds to people who can't attend an event. It is just greed at this point. They only refuse refunds because they know they are over charging people. It's sad. read more

This event was super expensive and super crowded. A piece of paper, a piece of wood and a sharpie for $30. It was so cold that we couldn't wait to throw our boats in the water and leave! The lines for the food were huge and most of the parking near the venue was either fenced off or taken by the food trucks. There was zero parking for disabled. It was very apparent that this was 100% about the money and 0% about people having a nice family evening out. read more

Do NOT waste your money! It was a total waste of money. Extremely disappointed. It was boring, pricy ($38)not organized. Had to wait on a lawn with nothing to do till sundown. A lot of holes on the ground with no signs. I stepped into a hole hurt my knee. If you have kids this is not a good option. read more

We attended the Pittsburgh event this weekend, and concluded that the Water Lantern Festival is a hugely profitable business that trades unfairly on people's emotions and feelings about life. For an $80 "date night" package, we received two cheaply made lantern kits and a poorly made, thin throw. The event also did not offer enough food trucks, and lines stretched hundreds of feet long. Also, the live entertainment was meager. But even worse, The Water Lantern Festival masquerades as a community organization with a big heart. It is not. This is a for-profit business. Read the fine print on their website. The community donations they say the make could not be found anywhere on the Pittsburgh website. We asked the event coordinator about this. He said that they donate $1 or $2 per ticket to community organizations or Water.org, but he could not tell us exactly where the money went for the Pittsburgh event. Wow, what a great business idea! If you want to remember a loved one or make positive wishes for the world, my advice is to make your own lantern and launch it at the river. Don't let these guys exploit your heart! read more

Went to the one in Alexandria at the national harbor. Complete garbage. We waited in line for food for nearly 2 hours. Also, on the website they promised live music which ended up just being a dj playing music. Overcrowded. Expensive and not worth the experience. read more

Sarasota - This event was incredibly, poorly managed. An estimated eight thousand people purchased tickets for a 4 hour festival that had 2 food trucks/1 kona ice truck and a handful of vendors. The food & beverage lines were 50 people deep at all times. The prevailing wind direction held all lanterns to the muddy beach and, by the way - decorate your lantern with the single black or blue mini sharpie provided. Though it was announced, there was no sharing of stories for what the lantern meant to individuals. As a finale, the complete lack of direction left a traffic jam of people trying to exit the unlit field in all directions. Far from the beautiful moment advertised; this was a complete fail. read more