Paying for parking and hard to access was not disclosed prior to purchasing tickets. Entertainment was less than entertaining.

You have probably seen ads for this event on Facebook or TV. Bright lights, festive, cultural - looks cool, right? I didn't see many reviews for the Pleasanton event online so hopefully this review can be helpful for someone on the fence about going. - It's expensive(!): one adult ticket is $27 after online fees, plus $10 in parking. The event is located on the east side of the Fairgrounds along Fairgrounds Road, so if you're looking to save money you can find neighborhood parking along Rose Ave and walk 5 to 10 minutes. - It's VERY, VERY small: the commercials on TV make this event look vast and spacious, but in reality, it really just occupies a small grass field. You can walk through the whole thing in less than an hour - and that's after taking your time, stopping to take pics, reading the light descriptions, etc. - The light installations are pretty cool: the quality and attention to detail of the light installations were well done. The lights definitely weren't cheesy and you could get some nice pictures here. - Stay for the acrobat show: they have a 20-minute Chinese acrobat show a few times a night. It was really good and entertaining! Wish it was longer. Start times vary depending on the night, so check the schedule at the ticket window when you arrive. - Not crowded: I went with my family on a Saturday night and it wasn't crowded at all. You can easily walk around and take pics. Very quiet and peaceful. Overall: at almost $30 a person (plus more if you pay for parking) I would recommend skipping this event. The light installations are nice, but you won't walk away saying "wow" or anything. The space is also REALLY small and underwhelming. But if you are looking for something new to do this holiday season, you can make this a good time out. Just level your expectations. Personally I wouldn't pay no more than $10 for this event and tickets are nearly 3x that amount. read more

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The event last from November to January so you have a lot of time to schedule on attending. Daily ticket fee $23 for adults, but make sure to follow on social media for discounts. We arrived on a Friday night. Parking fee $10 and many near spaces available. Not much crowd as I thought, so even better for photo ops. It rain a little bit early in the day so some area in the grass were muddy. The way the lantern lights were constructed, truly amazing. My favorites were the yellow dragon and red lanterns. Definitely check out the acrobat show. They provide 3 shows per day an hour apart. There were 4 performances lasted about 30 minutes. I think they had 4 food trucks, so you can enjoy some garlic fries or horchata lol. Great place to spend time with family, friends, and your significant other during the holidays. read more

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Ehhh... I spent $23 + $3.50 processing fee to pay online... when you can just buy the ticket at the door without the additional processIng fee! I was pretty disappointed! Lights were okay, pretty much spread out! It was just not worth the drive for me and my family. The commercial didn't say when the Lantern festival was so we went. When we got there, it was pretty much empty. We were told that the festival was last week... It's pretty much Christmas lights. It was too dark to take pictures with these lights anyway. I would not recommend unless you really wanna check it out! The whole place by the food vendors looked really dark. I couldn't even tell if they were open or not! Parking fee was $8 read more

Lantern Light Festival - Festivals Near Me - Pleasanton, California

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Wow, this festival was fun! The tickets only cost $23. Parking costs $10. There are a lot of huge beautiful light displays all around the area as well as a few different acrobat shows. There are three or four different times for the shows outside. The young acrobats were amazing! There are a few food & craft vendors at this event. We didn't buy any of the food there, but what they had looked good. I saw some chicken on a grill, Thai food, hot dogs, popcorn, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, shrimp, and more there. I hope that we'll be able to go there again next year. read more

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Came here with a friend and was not blown away, way over priced for what they have. $10 parking and $23 per adult for entrance is crazy! The exhibits that they did have were beautiful but there were only 6 exhibits and the tree garden, 2 food stands, 3 carnival rides, pony rides, shirt shop and a petting zoo. read more

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It was so weird! When we got to the parking attended she asked us twice if we knew how much the tickets were and that it was non-refundable. That should've been a sign. At first you walk in and you're enamored by the Chinese astrology lanterns...Rat was "mouse" and ox was "cattle". Um, okay.. Then you kind of wonder around. There are no employees on the grounds. Adding to the ambiance is a weird mashup of music from different genres. The activity area was a horribly cheap mini-golf course. It was laughable. An overpriced store and 4 jumpers. The entertainment billed as "Chinese acrobats" was more like amateur night. Three performers who all performed average-poorly. So many mistakes! It had a lot of potential, but the commercial is extremely misleading!!! read more

Do not waste your money! Over priced and only took 20 minutes to walk around the entire venue. Super disappointing! Our family of 8 spent $175.00 which could have been better spent on something enjoyable and fun. Would be better off driving through neighborhoods seeing houses decorated with holiday lights. read more

This was a great event for the family. The kids loved the colors of the lanterns, the carnival food and mining for emeralds. This was a great holiday event or a way to spend a fun weeknight or evening. Each person can be pricey, but you are able to find codes online you will be able to get a 10% or 20% discount. So do your research. Dress warmly, because this is in the cooler years of the season. And have fun! read more

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They get two stars for trying... The lanterns are spectacular! But, there are few lanterns and spread out on a small 3 acres parcel land. The lanterns are beautiful and creative, but they need much more to add! The food vendors are few as well (like 3 of them which is disappointing) Spending top dollar for what you get at this site you will know at the end you been robbed. This should be around 10-15$ per person event at this level. read more

We went there on a Saturday evening. The fairgrounds were a little bit muddy from the recent rains. I thought the lanterns were quite nice. They were very cute and moderate in size. It was not a huge venue but enough to be worthwhile and entertaining. The Chinese acrobat show was good as well although too short. There are rides for the little ones. Mechanical dinosaurs which are like the horse rides that you find outside the supermarkets in past times except these were dinosaurs. There was miniature golf and inflatables. There were food stands but we did not eat anything. They were about 5 artisan stands of people selling various Chinese trinkets And a large tent as a gift shop. Overall, I recommend you go see it especially if you have younger kids. Kids under the age of five may find the Lanterns boring after while. read more

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Very disappointing.. waste of money and time and parking $10 on top like seriously??$68 for two tickets is not worth paying. They should have added more attractions and games . read more

PSA- do not waste your money here. Definitely not worth the money they charge. We spent $130 for 3 adults and 3 kids, plus an additional $10 for parking. We were told none of rides were going and I thought I had read they had inflatables for the kids but there were none. The train ride and petting zoo were in addition to the entrance fee which only really pays for you to walk around the lanterns. While the lanterns were impressive, we finished walking through in 30 minutes. We left feeling unbelievably cheated. Will definitely stick with Winterfest instead in the future read more

Waste of time and money. Only a few displays out, the ad for this festival was hyped up much more than it was worth. About $25/pp with $10 parking. Expect to spend about less than an hour here. 2 food vendors at the time that we went. Coffee/hot chocolate/mocha tastes like hot sewer water. Don't bother with food/drinks/snacks. Lights were pretty though but it gets old very quickly. Wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. read more

What a complete waste of money. We paid $49 each for child VIP tickets and $23 each adult. The staff here all seemed clueless about their own event. The child VIP experience is a joke. The dragon ride isn't a dragon ride. It's a dinosaur that sits in one place and the child just sits on top of it. Miniature golf was lame , the kids got their cotton candy , t shirt and mining rocks and we took a quick skim of the lanterns spread out over a small grass area and thought omg what a waste money. We should have went to great America's winter fest instead! At least they have real rides!!! The 20 minute Chinese acrobats show was awesome but why do they charge so much for such an underwhelming festival! Save your money folks. read more

Like the other reviews, very small event with limited food vendors and rides for kids. Displays were very nice but we were done within an hour. No acrobat show and you only had access to portable toilets. Got to lower the price or add attractions to make it worthwhile. Otherwise, this is something to put in a park or church parking lot. read more

Loved it! Went for an early New Years Eve celebration with grandkids. $23 for adults and $18 for kids, VIP Pass for kids not necessary, they were more interested in the stories about each of the light displays. We were a group of 15 in total and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The light displays were strategically aligning a grassy area which was nice and made for an easy walk with the kids. The kids that couldn't read yet were read to from the older kids regarding the stories behind each display. They were in awe of all of the bright colorful displays and ran amongst them taking group pics and selfies. We grabbed dinner at the food trucks and there was something for everyone, from sausages, philly cheese steak,garlic fries, tacos and even pozile. With the size of our group a variety of items were tasted including warm churros, hot chocolate and cotton candy. The acrobatic show was truly amazing, lasted about 30 minutes. We made a night of it spending about 3+ hours in total at the festival. I would recommend to anyone that can afford and appreciate this type of entertainment. If you'r e looking for a quick look at fancy lights at little cost then load up the kids in the car and drive the neighborhoods looking at houses decorated with Xmas lights. You will spend money if you come as the kids opted for souvenirs too. They talked about the event into the night and many shared photos via social media all in all a successful outing for our family! read more

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Don't waste your time and money! Went through the whole thing in about and 1 hour and we were not impressed. Deacon Dave's is a lot better than this place. My kids were bored and wanted to leave. I think if the cost of admission was not so much, it might be ok, but it was not worth the money. read more

Negative 100 stars if I could. I should have looked on Yelp prior to going. This place was so dumb! $10 for parking, $25 per person. Overpriced and not much to do. Probably spent only 15 minutes here. Please go somewhere else!! read more

The festival is excellent. I came here to see all the nice decorations. It looked great and in saw a train car passing by few times. It is just nice when they decorate the festival. I think everything else is good. Just be careful when you walk on the mud. Price is okay. read more

It was absolutely NOT worth $23! At the first glance, it seemed they had lots lantern display but they were just spread out. The lantern lights are pretty BUT not worth the admin they charged. The food stand selections were horrible. Lantern is a Chinese tradition and history so it is only natural to have at least authentic and traditional Chinese food/ street food but nothing. I cannot say the food is bad because I didn't try them but the selections were very disappointing. Bottom line, we think they charged ppl for something not worth the amount, it would of been a much happier experience if the admin wasn't so expensive. We had high expectations because of the price. read more

We had a better time the last time the Light Festival came to Vallejo, CA. It was more organized and there were more things THEN, but now, that all changed. First, the price is outrageous for what we got which wasn't much. The first problem was we had bought tickets that included carnival rides which cost more, but when we went to the gate, we were informed that the carnival was gone; gave us a card to call to get a refund (we'll see how that goes!!) The employees at the front gate were extremely rude; we had online tickets and they bounced us around from window to window until we were able to get in. The staff must been hired at the very last moment as they were inexperience, not knowledgeable and rude. The only Chinese personnel I saw were the acrobats and the ones working behind one of the stores outside/ the store inside was operated by someone also not knowledgeable and must have been hired off the street. Merchandise was awful; the shirts were cheap-looking; poorly made!! We didn't bother with the food.....no variety or selections....and didn't want to get sick. The only thing I liked was the spectacular lights; just so colorful and beautiful. I wish I would have seen the lanterns that go into the sky; I only saw one go up......so, folks, not worth the price. If you just could go to see the lights, then the prices should be significantly lower!!! Very disappointing!! read more

Well, How do I put this...DONT GO!!!! Save your 200 dollars on something better. Before we even arrived at the festival we were told by the employee that we shouldn't spend our money here. It smells like poo and will give you diseases. I recommend if you really had to go keep your hands in your pockets and just go into the lantern section and NOT the rides. The indoor section is really disappointing and gross. The "Authentic Chinese Food" Doesn't exist and the only food there is the soggy corn dogs and the moist crepes. The Maze is a blow up piece of garbage that will most definitely disappoint you. read more

What a waste of money, and how disappointing. I rarely write reviews, but as soon as we arrived at this thing, I knew I had a duty to other families. I did not read these reviews and just went based on the marketing, which said there would be acrobat shows, Chinese food, artisan crafts. We paid $23 per adult and $28 per child so they could have unlimited inflatables, rides, mini-golf, etc. When we arrived, the parking was an additional $8.00. There was no need to buy tickets ahead of time because the line was the same. The lanterns were nice to walk through, and we expected to get on the other side of them and still have the same Chinese wonderland feel to the events. Where was the Chinese food? It was a taco truck, crepes, kettle corn and one truck doing teriyaki bowls all in a dark parking lot atmosphere which is where the stage was for the "acrobats". The stage was not well-lit and had three acrobats that came on individually and did some contortions to canned music that sounded like it was coming out of a boom box. Nobody even clapped, it was so bad. Then we got into the exhibition hall where the mini golf, inflatables, and animatronic dinosaur rides were. What a rip-off! Brightly lit warehouse space with no decorations with hurricane fence around each "attraction". The mini golf was just some putting greens spaced out on the floor, the inflatables were nothing special, the rides were a joke--just like those horsey rides you put a coin in and they rock back and forth. There was absolutely no effort put into making the exhibition hall festive, or on theme. The gift shop and crafts had a bunch of stuff in shipping boxes that looked beat up. This was a very disappointing event, especially for the money. A reasonable cost for this event would have been $5 per person whether child or adult and should have been inclusive of all "attractions". Money would have been better spent at 6 Flags across the street. read more

What a rip-off and disappointment. Any reviews with more than two or three stars have to be fake. It cost my family of four $140 including parking, and we expected much more based on the website and advertisements. The acrobatic show was about 15 minutes long and I felt embarrassed for the performers. The only food available was American fair food, so don't expect any traditional Chinese foods. The lanterns were pretty, but absolutely not worth the price. And the shops and 'bazaar' were small and mostly contained cheap garbage. read more

Overpriced! I think even if this event were free, I'd question going. I attended the Pleasanton one with my two young daughters. It's a very small event. You can probably walk and see all of the lanterns in about 15-20 minutes. It's on the grass, so if you attend the event on a day when it has recently rained, expect muddy puddles all over. None of the rides were operating the night we attended and staff failed to inform us of this when we paid the full-priced entrance fee. The only attraction open was the pony ride, which was an additional $8 per kid. The crowd was very small. They have porta-potty restrooms if you care about that. They also offer snacks for sale like popcorn, hot chocolate, coffee and beer (I did not purchase any of the snacks or drinks as they did not look appetizing). To conclude, both my girls and I were very disappointed. Save your money. read more

This was the most disappointing most expensive ridiculous event I have ever been to at the fairgrounds. Completely overpriced and hardly any lights. The commercial makes it sound like it goes on forever and you can see the whole thing in five minutes or less. The maze is a filthy mess and the food is inedible. read more