By now, you’ve probably heard all about the highly-anticipated Sky Lantern Festival that was supposed to happen on 21st February 2024. In case you missed it, the festival didn’t end up happening at all, leaving an aftermath of enraged festival-goers, many of which are demanding refunds for their tickets. Well, according to the organisers, not only will refunds not be issued, the festival is set to be rescheduled to a date later this April 2024.
@asiatvnews 天灯变吊灯？新加坡天灯节因无法释放天灯而引起参与者不满，纷纷要求主办方退款。 #新加坡 #天灯节 #singapore #lanternfestival #tiktoksg #tiktok新闻 #tiktoknews
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The much talked about event that was meant to be the first of its kind in Singapore was met with plenty of skepticism from the public when it was first announced. Naturally, as it seemed inconceivable that such a large-scale and clearly hazardous event could come to pass in Singapore.
@ti_miannn Singapore latern festival , summary of what happen. Some permit suddenly last min restrict and because of some safety protocol thats why cant light the latern
TikTok: @ti_miannn
The Singapore edition of the sky lantern festival would not even have an actual lantern release; rather the lanterns would be tethered to the ground with string and retrieved after 5-10 minutes in the sky—a detail that hopeful participants were willing to overlook if they could still get the promised IG-worthy light-up.
TikTok: @sherylllim80
IG: @sarahhhh_k
Image Credit: Marcus Tang
Image Credit: Shiermie Bautista
However it was not to be, and true enough, the entire event was scrapped at the last minute; not to mention the poor organisation, lack of communication, failure to obtain necessary permits, lack of fire safety measures and switching actual candles with LED lights—all these issues were just the tip of the iceberg. If you’re one of the affected participants hoping to get a refund for your tickets, it seems like that won’t be happening either. According to a Facebook post by one of the organisers of the event, Ms Shiermie Bautista, no refunds will be issued as “ticket sales are final, and non-refundable”, but your tickets are still valid for entry for a “rescheduled event around 1st week of April”. See the original post here:
Image Credit: Shiermie Bautista
Ticket holders who don’t want to attend the rescheduled festival also have the option of (attempting to) resell their tickets via TicketSwap. Ms Bautista also expressed her apologies for not being present in Singapore on the day of the original event as she “[was] overseas”, and promised to ensure that “everything will be organize[d]” on the day of the rescheduled festival.
Image Credit: Shiermie Bautista
Whether the rescheduled event will actually happen, or if it will result in another failed festival still remains to be seen—we’ll just have to wait till April 2024 for the final verdict.
Sky Lantern Festival
Date: April 2024 (exact date TBC)
Address: Palawan Green, Sentosa Singapore, Siloso Beach Walk
Opening Hours: TBA
