Scam fears for lantern festival with no venue
Organiser dismisses claims, despite council ban on lanterns
TRADING standards officers are probing a ‘sold-out festival’ with Birmingham dates – saying online adverts had “prompted concern this could be a scam”.
Lantern Festival UK, promoting events at as yet undisclosed venues in the city on June 1 and July 13, is under investigation.
The event’s website said both dates have sold out – along with two other dates in London on May 26 and June 8. But no venues have been announced.
However, those behind the website said in a statement they were securing larger venues after ticket sales over-performed and that sites would be announced in the coming days.
Birmingham City Council said it was “aware of a number of online adverts promoting a lantern festival that have prompted concern this could be a scam”.
It added: “Our Trading Standards team are looking into this. The council does not permit the intentional release into the sky of lanterns from any land or property which it owns and/or controls. This includes our streets, public spaces, cemeteries and local authority schools.
“They may travel and land anywhere, potentially causing harm to wildlife and the environment.”
‘Lantern Festival UK’ is not registered on Company House and the event’s website was set up less than a month ago.
Videos used on the festival’s TikTok page, some with millions of views, also appeared to be copied from other creators on the app.
Lantern said it was using “stock footage” to “showcase the ambient experiences our festivals aim to create”.
The Post spoke to several customers who had bought tickets for Birmingham’s June 1 event. They
claimed alarm bells rang after reading the festival’s terms and conditions. Concerns were also raised over the environmental impact of releasing potentially thousands of lanterns into the sky – though Lantern Festival claims that they’re safe and environmentally friendly.
An email from Lantern Festival UK said it wanted to “address the recent media reports and allegations regarding our upcoming lantern festivals in Birmingham and London”.
It added: “We share the public and media’s heightened awareness of events promotion, following the disastrous Wonka experience in Glasgow that was widely reported recently. Our events and theirs could not be more different.
“We have carefully planned these events, and made numerous location
selections in Birmingham and London, optioning sites of different capacities, based on their attributes that will enable us to create a safe and environmentally friendly event for all.
“As ticket sales have over-performed our expectations, we’ve released the site options on lowercapacity venues and entered into final agreements with the larger venues we’ve identified as part of our planning process.
“The specific locations for the events have not yet been publicly announced due to the overwhelming popularity of ticket sales, which has resulted in us securing larger venues as part of our strategy to safely accommodate as many people as possible. However, we can confirm that the Birmingham venue details will be released in the coming days once final arrangements are complete.
“Regarding claims that the events in Birmingham may not have proper permissions, we want to clarify that the lantern festival will be hosted on private land and therefore does not require planning permission from the local council.
“We have instructed our solicitor to again review our lease agreement in Birmingham and local council rules to ensure this compliance.
“Our ticketing policy is transparent – customers can receive a full refund if they return their tickets within 14 days of purchase. After that window, refunds are not offered as we near the event dates to maximize capacity at what are low-availability, highly demanded events.”