A lantern festival held on a farm on Six Nations of the Grand River has left a bad taste for community members and festivalgoers.
The Lights Festival on Aug. 20 was promoted on the Narcity Toronto website as a “mystical event” that, for $55 per adult, would allow ticket holders to send floating lanterns — fueled and illuminated by a flame — into the night sky.
The arrival of thousands of festivalgoers to a Fourth Line Road address resulted in Six Nations police turning away vehicles. Police said they are continuing to investigate the unsanctioned event and say charges are pending.
Six Nations of the Grand River issued a statement this week, saying the event’s organizers had no prior consultation with the elected council or Six Nations police and fire officials. The statement goes on to say that the launch of the lanterns generated concern among community members due to the volume of attendees and the potential fire hazard.
“Thousands of people descended on the territory on Saturday for this event, which resulted in substantial traffic congestion, road closures, trespassing, property damage, and risk to pedestrians who parked their cars along the side of the road,” wrote Six Nations communications officer Katie Montour. “Six Nations police were present to direct traffic and asked event organizers that they not light the lanterns due to concerns surrounding fire safety.”
Montour said the elected council sent a letter to festival organizers on Aug. 16 informing them that the release of lanterns on the territory was not authorized due to “a substantial fire risk as our territory is home to the largest stand of Carolinian forest in the country.”
Some lanterns were lit and released by attendees who had arrived earlier on Aug. 20.
“This unsanctioned event represents a callous disregard for the safety and wellbeing of the people of Six Nations,” said Six Nations elected chief Mark Hill.
“It is unacceptable that outside organizations think they can exploit our sovereignty for their own benefit by hosting events on the territory that have little to no benefit to our community. Six Nations and its residents deserve respect from visitors to the territory, as well as from our own community members.”
Chloe Li, 27, drove from Richmond Hill, Ont., with friends to attend the event, only to get stuck in a long line of traffic.
“The cars ahead of us started turning around,” she said. “We parked at the gas station where police blocked the intersection. Since people were lost and confused, the intersection was quite chaotic.”
Li said she asked a police officer what was happening and was told: “You cannot stay here; this event has no permit.”
She and her friends decided to leave an hour later. While in heavy traffic on Highway 6 near Caledonia, she said she was able to see several lanterns floating in the sky.
Hundreds of angry ticket holders commented on Instagram about the unprofessionalism of event organizers who didn’t attempt to notify customers of the event’s cancellation.
Li said she received an e-mail the following day from The Lights Fest apologizing for how the event unfolded.
“We have held this event at this venue before, and it was a great time. We followed all necessary procedures and had the proper permits,” the announcement stated.
Organizers went onto say they were shocked to learn that police were turning people away and demanding the event be canceled minutes before lanterns were to be launched.
“We know many of you were able to set off your lantern anyways (props to you!).”
The announcement by the Lights Fest crew said they have already begun a search for a new location and would welcome ticket holders back.
A 22-year-old Brampton, Ont., woman, who preferred to remain anonymous, said she arrived at about 5:30 pm to find only two food vendors for what was predicted to be a crowd of 11,000 people.
“We had three local singers that were good,” she said.
“However, if you were in the back, you wouldn’t be able to see or hear them. They didn’t have any screens or loud enough speakers. And absolutely zero emergency services people.”
She said that, at about 8:45 pm when everyone was to light the lanterns, organizers announced the event was canceled and lanterns were not to be lit.
“But a lot of people including myself did still light (one),” she admitted. “But it was not magical at all and was a bit scary. The ground we were standing on was super dry and very flammable.”
While many ticket holders said on social media that they want a refund, the hopes of receiving one appear slim.
The Lights Fest website states that tickets are non-refundable, however, refunds will be offered if an event is cancelled, and a makeup date is not scheduled within 90 days of the original event.
Meantime, the Better Business Bureau website for Pleasant Grove, Utah, where organizer Viive Events, LLC is located, lists more than 50 complaints from people seeking refunds for canceled events.
An alert on the BBB website says: “The Light Fest or Viive Events, LLC has received complaints alleging events that consumers register and pay for are not taking place. These events are scheduled across the country and are being canceled just days before the event.”
The alert adds that consumers are unsuccessful in reaching out to the business for refunds.
“BBB has sent all the complaints to the business and has not received any response to these complaints.”
Some complaints date back to 2018 with customers stating that, even having purchased an optional refund protection plan, they have been trying in vain for 12 months to get their money back.
The company did not respond to questions sent by The Expositor.