We've experienced the lights festival near Palm Desert so this review is compared to that memorable experience. These are always heart warming and a chance to either just experience the beauty of the the sky lit up with lanterns or to let go, forgive, reset, or whatever else your heart desires for internalized fulfillment. Now with that being said, in comparison to our prior experience near Palm Desert in SoCal... Traffic to get in and out is tight and through plenty of turns so have those barf bags ready if your stomach is weak. Took a very long time getting in as it's practically a 2-laner, one for in and one for out. NO CELL RECEPTION!! So either plan ahead on where and when to meet if traveling separately or be prepared not to send smoke signals to find one another. This is also a nice thing as it forces you to disconnect and be one with your gorgeous surroundings nature. It's beautiful up there - but that's about it. Food selections is narrow. And one of the poorly designed setups for the lights festival here, if more annoying than the traffic, was that the fire poles were setup too close to each other that plenty of parties outside of the arranged fires to light your lanterns had to wait or had trouble getting their lanterns lit to float with the rest. Results? A subpar continuous lift of lanterns instead of one gigantic breathless view that is marketed so heavily in social media. Mediocre execution for the actual lighting of the lanterns, no cell service, no staff walking around to help you light lanterns if you didn't have any nearby accessible tiki lamp, and limited food trucks with long waits and lines. The good? Surrounding nature and the beautiful scenery. Once you get settled, it's so serene and nice. Omit the fact that it rained and was cold - that's nature, cold was to be expected since we're way up high. Bring your tent, chairs, or whatever you have to shield from the sun and relax comfortably. Highly recommended if you've never experienced a Lights Festival. Otherwise, if you're looking for the breathtaking sights you see all over social media - this organizational team and location falls short of it. We'll try the Vegas experience next time and hope it lives up to the memorable experience near Palm Desert. Best TIP? Don't rush out after releasing your lanterns. Hang out, spend time with family, enjoy the serene nature being up high and surrounded by nature with the night skies. Relax and let the traffic die down. Leave much later so you're not annoyed by everyone trying to return home ASAP! read more

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the whole thing is a scam, don't fall for it I beg Never received my money back after being told for a month I was going to so save yourselfs! read more

What a lovely magical experience. I definitely was living my "Tangled" movie scene in real life hehe. 4 stars lovely experience, knocked off 1 star because of safety risk (Read review below) We drove all the way from San Francisco. With traffic it took about 4.5 hours. Without traffic, it should take 2.5 hours (Collusa County). Man! This location is up in the cuts for sure. Stranded in the middle of nowhere with no reception. However, it makes you enjoy the experience more and living in the moment rather than trying to post everything on social media. It made my experience more intimate and bonding with my loved ones. $10 Parking. $51 for each ticket per person. The lantern already comes with a ticket so there is no need to purchase an extra one unless you want to. We made a mistake of not knowing the lantern already comes with the ticket purchase, therefore we had about 4 extra lanterns. You get a marker, lantern, and bracelet when you arrive. We did not experience a bag check... There are food vendors if you get hungry. Awesome music/low key artists that sing beautifully and definitely entertain! There are Port-o-Potties and foot pump operated sinks. *Recommendations: -WEAR SHOES (My feet were so dirty because there is so much dirt and its a 3-5 minute walk from the parking lot to the seating area) -Bring something comfy to sit on or portable chairs -Bring CASH to pay for parking -Bring a Flashlight for when it gets dark at night -Bring a sweater just incase. It actually gets pretty cold at night since it's near a big lake Someone will instruct everyone on stage how to activate the lantern. Staff members will go around a light up a torch and you go to the nearest torch around you (there are plenty don't worry) and activate 2 corners of the lighting sheet connected to the lantern. There are fire department members everywhere for safety reasons and to give a clear sign that it is time to set the lanterns and let them float in the air. Activating the lanterns is actually not as difficult but not as easy as it looks. IT IS ALSO SCARY!!!! You literally light the lantern from where you are sitting. Mind you there were people EVERYWHERE. So there were many incidents where the lantern landed on people, landed on peoples belongings, it even landed on our friend's head and it burned her hair. Thankfully not all the way but you could hear a sizzle.... I would definitely love to go again for sure. However, I now know what I should be prepared for. read more

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GREED GREED GREED! This event was terribly organized. The Google Maps address given led us to a back road, causing over 100 cars to get lost. It then took 3 hours to get in and parked because it was a ONE LANE road. Upon arrival at the 'venue,' there was a $30 charge for parking after a $62.50 charge PER TICKET!! The worst part? THERE WASN'T ANY MORE PARKING! The guys directing traffic had no idea where any available parking was and didn't speak a word of English. It was complete chaos, with no one relaying messages, causing 10-car pile-ups and forcing everyone to turn around. (See photo below of parking with ZERO direction). Although we made the best of it, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone looking to enjoy their evening. read more

The Lights Fest - ‍‍‍ - Festivals Near Me - Willows, California

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Very disappointed with the lack of communication. I purchased the refund protection plan and had requested a refund because we did not want to attend the event (04/26/2025 Stonyford, CA) due to weather conditions. With all that being said I have emailed multiple times and have not received one response back. So today I finally gave in and did a dispute claim through my bank today (05/19/2025) *Total of 6 emails sent to them since the day of the event (04/26/2025) and not one response! Very unprofessional! I DO NOT RECOMMEND! I should have checked reviews before purchasing tickets. NEVER will I be purchasing again. This event is a scam and the people running it should be charged with fraud! read more

@thelightsfest ... I bought tickets for the event in 2023 in Jacksonville, FL and the event was canceled after several postponements! They never gave me my money back! read more

Most amazing beautiful display I've ever witnessed. This years weather wasn't the best but still well worth sticking it out to see this sensational display again. read more

They've cancelled 3 events in a row now and still refuse to give me a refund. I see how they afford to do this now. Steel 90% of people money and throw 1 or 2 events to look legit. Don't be fooled. This is one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. read more

Magical/Emotional and I am glad I went but there was definitely things that could have made the experience better. Event started at 2. Event email package said the lanterns were expected to go off about 6 but depending on weather and fire dept approval. Weather was great, zero wind but I knew it wasn't happening at 6 cause the advertised artist didn't even come on stage till 7pm. I was like what, is she going to sing 2 songs? That was kind of annoying. Next- traffic control coming in, but NOT going out. I've been to concerts, sporting games and expected that kind of cluster but no! 10x worse. Cars were sitting in 1 spot for an hour because it wasn't moving. Like why? I couldn't figure it out. We were stuck. Also- open desert and cones would of been helpful to mark where cars were. I took a mental note of where we were, noticing we were close to this dirt about 6 cars from end. Turns out there was a whole new area opened and it all looked the same in the dark desert. We couldn't find the car for over an hour. I even considered it had gotten stolen. So many ppl were using panic buttons. We were apparently way off- so mine didn't detect. So anyone going, drop a pin where you parked. They def should have cones or something. There was no pics or anything of the portable fire tin, so I didn't order one but wished I had one. They were pretty awesome and burned a long time. Of course, cheaper on Amazon. I'd of bought one there if I knew. Sun shade def needed. I'm not sure why I didn't think of that but bought an umbrella there. But people- when night falls- take umbrella down!!! Ppl in front us were not courteous. read more

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The festival itself is very beautiful, but, the fact that you buy tickets and pay extra in case you need to cancel and they don't honor it, it's a disgrace. We bought tickets for the NY/PA event, I believe for March and they reschedule it for April. Some of my family was not able to make in April (they cxld the event for March, I shouldn't even have to fight for my money back). Since March I have been sending emails to get my money back with no avail. They just send emails back stating that they received my email, that's it, nobody has attempted to contact me regarding my refund. This is ridiculous. Never again will I purchase a ticket from these people. read more

EHHH. I've been to Rise in Las Vegas many times and RISE is a lot better. PRICE - $60 for ONE LANTERN!? which is literally like paper. ya'll are crazy. Ridiculous. But I expected the event to amazing so I was like ok. So basically if your lantern catches on fire or doesnt float youre screwed (STRIKE 1) PARKING - $30? Again, ridiculous. this event obviously is not budget friendly so this is really sad for those that have a family ($270 for everyone with parking wtf!) MUSIC - ummm, what, listen to RISE's music when they let their lantern release. it does not have lyrics and its very magical. the music was horrible and singing songs like "hallelujah"? So basically completely disregading those that are NOT religious. Again, watch videos online of the music RISE puts when they do lantern releases. TIKI TORCHES - not enough. We shared with like 15 people. It took FOREVER. They also have the tiki torches only in some parts of the dirt? Why not spread more out? Agian, when i've been to rise they are all beautifully and perfectly spread out in a circle and there is enough for everyone. AUDIENCE - people do not understand that we will do releases TOGETHER (Again, rise did a way bettter job at this). A bunch of poeple let theirs go before and it sucked. At rise, we literally had a countdown and all released the same second AND THAT WAS AMAZING, MORE AMAZING than what this place did. They shouldve told people to light their lanterns and wait a bit until more people had their lantersn lit up and ready to release (again, more tikis wouldve helped). OK so we were supposed to do 2 releases but after ONE Release, half of the people left. THE EVENT WAS ONLY LIKE 10 MINUTES. Advice: Cut expenses and make the event a lot shorter (it started at 2pm and latern release was 6 HOURS LATER at 8pm). Start it at 5, that way you cut costs with bands or whatever and we have more lanters. Overall, ehh I'll only go to rise from now on. read more

IT IS A SCAM! The locations kept changing and the events were "postponed" due to lack of license, we have canceled a few other important things to make it, and it is such a bad experience. read more

This business is an absolute scam. They sell tickets to events and then continue to postpone the event to prevent giving refunds per their policy. They will continue to push the event over and over until you can no longer dispute the charge but the event will never happen. Avoid at all costs. Do not purchase tickets unless you can afford to lose the money. read more

Was excited to finally be able to take part in an event like this over the weekend. My boyfriend and I got to the venue around 4:45pm after making a hour and a half drive from Vegas. We ended up being directed to this huge lot to park at and followed the signs to where the event was taking place in this open field. Check-in was a bit confusing since we were all lined up in two different sides and it was hard to see who was being helped or not. When we got helped, our tickets weren't really scanned or looked at after telling the person that we had gotten two tickets. We were provided our two lanterns and each a little pouch containing a temporary tattoo, tiny marker, keychain light and a bracelet to wear so you can come in and out of the event. And I found out later that the bracelet glows in the dark too! Once inside, there were food trucks lined up in a U-shape to the left, the restrooms and store were in front of us and the main stage was too put right with a bunch of people that had set up camp already. We found out later that 8000 people were going to be there that night. We checked out the store after using the porta potties and my boyfriend ended up getting their last black hat. We wanted to sit in the section nearest to the back and by the restrooms l, but they hadn't opened up that area to people yet until about an hour later since they wanted the front to be filled up. So we killed time by looking at the various food trucks ranging from American to Asian to icy treats. We ended up sharing a hotdog together before making our way to the section we wanted to be in. There were tiki torches in the designated areas to sit at and we easily found a spot next to this nice couple. We put up our chairs and just waited. Reception got pretty bad as more and more people came in that they weren't able to host the giveaways they wanted to do through their social media account. They had some live performances on stage, but us people in the back were more into our conversations as well as the anticipation for the event to start. Luckily, I was able to spot my two friends in the crowd and they ended up making camp at our spot too. They had also brought a cooler with some snacks and we started talking as we waited for sunset to happen. We wrote on our lanterns and soon enough the night came upon us. The tiki torches were lit around 7pmish, so we had to be mindful of them as the night progressed. At about 8:10pm, we did a moment of silence for the lives lost in the Vegas shooting, we remembered how important this event is to people who have lost others and there was a test lantern done and we were given approval to continue on with the lantern lighting. So around 8:17pm was when we started lighting and releasing lanterns. Our group decided to take pictures first since we were on the outskirts of the event. It was really beautiful until we looked behind us and saw the lanterns didn't make it too far and either burned out or burned up in the air. It was nerve wracking to light my own, but with a little help and patience it got up there. Definitely became dangerous and scary when lanterns came hurtling down on fire or still lit and our group did our best to help the others around us. But overall, it was a fun event to do with family, friends and love ones. As for leaving the venue, it took over an hour or so to get out of the lot, up the road and on our way. The parking attendants were really useless at the bottleneck point of exiting the lot and there were like 10 lines of cars that had to eventually merge into one and then split into two as we made our way up. read more

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DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM. READ BELOW * Horrible service. They don't even deserve one star. Bought tickets 2 months ahead to their event. Received an email showing my pass & to hold on to it to get into the event. Fast forward to a week before the event, I reach out to them asking if I can bring cameras into the event. They responded asking for my order #, completely dodging the question. When provided, they claimed that my order never went through and I do not have tickets for their event. They also admitted to it being THEIR TEAMS fault for the tickets never going through & not mine. They told me they closed the sales on the event in my city and I cannot be an exception for THEIR MISTAKE. Keep in mind I was not asking for free tickets. I offered to pay due to the fact they fumbled the ball while processing my order. There was no apology. There was no exception for their mistake. There was no email or phone call letting me know my tickets weren't valid & they would still like my business. Nothing. They actually told me it's my fault for not noticing my account not being charged - Lights over America if you're reading this I sincerely apologize that i'm financially comfortable & I don't feel the need to check my statement every month like you do. Around the same time of me contacting them, they post a meme about the "childish behavior" they deal with while booking customers. Super unprofessional. Super immature. DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM. read more

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I've been before and it's magical - but weather needs to be good. Today they held the event - had us standing outside in TERENTIAL DOWNPOURS and didn't refund our money. We were soaking wet at 6pm and they told us to wait in our cars for 2 hours for the chance it might stop raining even though the weather app aid it would be raining until 9pm. No thanks - I'll go home. Wasted 3 hours driving for nothing but rude attendants at the lines. If the weather is good it's amazing - but they wont cancel an event even if there is thunder, lighting and torrential rain - Really disappointing...... read more

Highly do not recommend. I bought two tickets hoping to go, but bought the refund just in case I couldn't make it. Before the actual event I asked for the tickets to be refunded and they never got back to me. Almost a week ago I emailed them asking for a refund and still they ignore me and will not give me a refund. This is a horrible company. Do not fall for there scam. read more

Buyers Beware! they have postponed my event not once but twice then REFUSED to give me a full refund. I purchased the $4 refund protection plan. But, guess what. There is absolutely no way to actually get a refund. So, the protection plan is most definitely a scam and the fact that you can't actually reach anyone at the company is pretty ridiculous. I have tried requesting a refund for weeks and just keep getting the run around. I'm just glad I have a great credit card company that doesn't let this stuff pass. read more

I paid to attend the event in PA in May. I cancelled the trip a week before and paid the extra for the refund insurance. It's been over a month and I have yet to receive my refund. I've them numerous times with no response. I'm reporting them to my back to reverse the charges. read more

It's our first year since we weren't able to attend last year because of my daughters cheer competition. This year I made sure we were able to attend. Very impressed how they had people directing cars where and how to park. Registration was quick and painless. We arrived around 430 (an hour after opening) and there was still a lot of space to choose from. Although if you want a prime spot I suggest being there at opening. Since I'm was just my husband and I it was easy for us to get a spot. Next year we are definitely bringing the kids and arriving early, making it like a picnic in the desert lol. We were told 8000 was in attendance so be prepared to be sitting right next to whoever comes near you. We were lucky to have sat next to some great people. There were food trucks there however I wish there was more since the lines were long for certain ones. When it was time to launch it was just magical! A little emotional since my lantern was made out to a loved one who had passed recently, but very much magical. Like I said we are definitely going again next time! read more

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I went to the Austin Lights Fest 2019 and it was the coolest experience ever!! I even got slightly emotional looking at all of the lanterns floating in the sky-- don't ask me why, but it was so cool to see everyone come together to wish for beautiful things on these lanterns! I was surprised to see how many options for food they had; street tacos, hot dogs, funnel cakes, smoothies, milkshakes, cotton candy-- so much to choose from! I definitely recommend bringing a blanket or chairs to sit on, but if you forget they have a merch table where they sell blankets, hats, blow up chairs and more. This event is not only about the lanterns, and they had a couple really great artists sing and perform while we waited for it to get dark! Overall, I am so happy with my experience at the lights fest and I recommend this to anyone who wants to plan the cutest date night! read more

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Bought Tickets in 2018. ---"2019 Voucher Tickets" They never had any shows in SOCAL for 2019... and they never refunded me. I sent many refund request emails. It's 2021, still no refund. DO NOT BUY THIS, its a scam and they just take your money. It's funny because they respond the next day saying "your refund request has been received, please do not send another email" but where is my refund... read more

I went to one in NorCal in April 2024. There is so many things wrong with The Lights Festival. The Lights Festival advertised that there was going to be games and activities, food vendors, and entertainment. -There was one game/activity: eating fruit roll ups -There was only 2 performers who were singing. usually if you advertise entertainment, there's definitely more than that -$150 definitely was not worth it for the date night package at all. The permanent marker was cheap quality af, the merch was cheap quality, everything was cheap quality but expensive. -$30 parking fee is crazy! and they made us park so claustrophobically too! -There was only like 5 food trucks: A food truck from fresno that sold teriyaki bowls, a truck that also sold some sort of teriyaki things and eggrolls, a chicken tender/wing place, a filipino food truck, and a pizza place. The food was so bland and $20 was not worth it at all for the small portion. 5 food trucks is not enough for 300+ people. -There was only like 10 restrooms for over 300+ people which is crazy! ran out of sink water to wash hands so fast. -Not enough torches to light up the lanterns so everyone had to wait super long. Nothing here was worth it except for the actual lighting up the lanterns part which was definitely so beautiful, but the fact that everything sucked so bad and they made us wait so long to light up the lanterns was so annoying. I'm so happy to get my Rapunzel Tangled moment by a beautiful lake, but this event sucked so bad, I will never go to another event again. I dont understand why people like these events so much but maybe it was just this one that sucked so bad. read more

Their policy states safe weather and reschedule if needed but with bad weather they wont do as they say and no refunds or updates on status until mid way through event. read more

I wouldn't go so far as to call this whole thing a scam, but it has some of the qualities of a scam. I purchased the $4 refund protection plan. But, guess what. There is absolutely no way to actually get a refund. So, the protection plan is most definitely a scam and the fact that you can't actually reach anyone at the company is pretty terrible. I'm just glad I have a great credit card company that doesn't let this stuff pass. read more

Postponed the event to a day I can not go- family getting married and will not give me a refund. They say their policy is absolutely no refunds but I feel like the service I was sold 3/30 was not given so I should get my money back. Then I started looking up info on them and there are a lot of similar stories. This may not be a scam (we will see if they push the date again) but it's deception. I paid for an event 3/30. If that event doesn't happen, I should get my money back. read more

What made it so fun was probably the good company and being there with my family. security was a bit of a mess and the lines to get in and have bags checked were insane! Considering they've had the lights festival at this location before, you would think it would be more organized this time around. It's fine though, we got in and found a spot to set up our lawn chairs and screen tent, all good to go! The lanterns are extremely thin/fragile (as expected, they need to float up). So be careful when drawing on them and have a delicate hand! Torches are lined up, and you are NOT supposed to move them!!! (there are so many people who attend the event that not everyone can sit within close proximity to the torches) FD requires them to remain where they are so that the fire for the lanterns can be contained in a controlled area. [side note, don't really recommend sitting near the torches, we sat on the outskirts and because of it, we didn't have any of our stuff trampled. I can't tell you enough of how many people's belongings I saw get walked all over or squished because they were posted right next to the torches.] ALSO. People need to follow directions!!! WHEN YOU LIGHT UP YOUR LANTERN, SLOWLY BRING IT DOWN TO THE GROUND SO THAT THE HEAT CAN BUILD UP WITHIN THE LANTERN, AND THEN RELEASE!!! People would let go immediately after lighting them up, and the heat wouldn't expand/disperse throughout the lanterns for them to properly float up in the sky! EXTREME FIRE HAZARD! My cousin nearly got hit with an enflamed lantern because people don't know how to follow the dang instructions! Seriously, if we didn't scream for her to move she would have easily gotten burned. Please people, listen to the instructions provided by the workers. It was really sad to see how many lanterns didn't even make it 10 feet off the ground before bursting into flames simply because people couldn't follow simple directions. Not to mention the numerous times people would yell "watch out" because of a floating fireball heading into the crowd of thousands of attendees. I personally enjoyed the lantern festival. Me and my family, 10+ of us, all managed to successfully ignite and release our lanterns without any issues, because we followed directions. If you do that, you won't have to witness your nicely decorated lantern get stomped all over in the dirt in order to extinguish the flames... *sigh* It was a beautiful sight. Just know, you will witness as many lanterns come down as you will witness them go up. They don't float endlessly into the sky and disappear into the starry night. You can literally see all the lanterns float up pretty high in the air, and then they all burn out and fall back down (def feel bad for the cleanup crew) but it's okay! We all had a blast and I would definitely be willing to attend another lights festival. It was truly a magical experience!!!! Only 3/5 because -1 Star for the security upon entry and -1 Star for people's failure to follow directions, this posing serious fire threats to other attendees. But for the experience itself, definitely worth it! :) read more

My second go round with a "lantern" fest. This one, The Lights Fest has been growing in popularity on social media. Some of the time listing locations in "San Francisco, Santa Rosa and Sacramento". This particular location is NOT SACRAMENTO. It's closer to Redding/Colusa. I get why- need a boondocks remote type area to launch the lanterns. Here are some tips, pros and cons: -If you come here, expect to walk up and down hills (both directions) from and to the parking lot. There are shuttles available- we did not take any so I do not have further information on that besides there was a line for it. (more on that and parking later) -If you come during March, April and on- it will be warm during the day, bring water...stay hydrated. Bring a sweater or whatever later to keep you warm. Blankets, lawn chairs for seating are welcome. -Many folks come with wagons or carts to haul their kids or items. Pls be mindful of the crowds. Yes, everyone is trying to go/leave but your items take up space. I had a couple of wagons literally hit my leg because they were trying to push through. I have nothing against them, but if you are bringing them, you should know you can hit someone with it. I understood the scene, but someone else may not. -If you don't want to come early to skip the afternoon festivities which here, was musicians, don't arrive too late either. We started filing in line roughly around 415 pm. Waited in line for bag check (one security guard only!) for nearly an hour. Per the email, check in ended at 6 (don't know if that really held up...by the time we were done being checked in, the line was wrapped about triple the size and around the parking lot.) Note: if you arrive late, there is a chance you will not get a spot by torches and you will sit higher up on the hill. There was an announcement of a 2nd round of "lighting" so those folks can come down to use the torches. -When getting in line to be checked in, there are 2 lines (no there are no signs!) but one is for bag check with the security guard and the other is for the shuttle- be aware! (did all those people get checked who took the shuttle? I HAVE NO IDEA!) -Packet pick up consists of you signing a waiver, then them scanning (or taking a pic) of your ticket and giving you a bracelet and lantern(s). To be honest, if you didn't buy a ticket/lantern, you could have just walked in the event. NO ONE CHECKED OUR BRACELET before walking onto the field. Do not expect a "swag" bag. You can purchase "swag" items at the booths next to the stage. -The field has light grass which is nice. There are a lines of torches that get lit when it starts to get dark. I do like the constant updates "do not light your lanterns early, time updates of when we will launch them, when torches will be lit, do not fly your drones, do not move the torches". Listen to these updates folks. They literally say these on the loud speaker. Of course you will get those that do no listen. Expect a few to launch early. WILL HAPPEN. -Parking here was easy during arrival. Plenty of people directing you to a spot. LEAVING? Different story. You won't be leaving for at least 2 hours. Prepare yourself. No organization with leaving, no person directing you. It is not until you get closer to leaving you will see traffic being directed. I'm not sure if this was delayed when we left, but we literally sat in the car trying to leave. Felt like the lot was not emptying. -Port-o-potties are available...long rows of them. there are no paper towels but there was a washing station for hands. I heard there was a lack of toilet paper. I actually brought my own tp, including hand wipes and sanitizer. Lastly I want to say, the beauty of the lanterns are impressive and if you follow instructions, this can be a great event. I don't know if the lanterns were cheap but some lanterns were floating in the air, not lit and falling from the sky- keep an eye out! When you light the lantern, you need to let the air fill before letting go...otherwise they will just fall down. (prior to launch, they do show you how to do this just watch them on stage!) Share the torches, it doesn't belong to just one person/group. Be mindful if you decide to touchdown by a torch, that others will want to use them and keep your belongings together (and if you put a blanket down, chances are it could get stepped on). I wish the music selection was better during the launch of the lanterns. The views are spectacular and memorable. For some this is a bucketlist check off type of event so I highly recommend you go but if so, but be aware of what happens here. Side note- the musician Ky was wonderful. Wish they had him singing during the launch. His sound and choice of songs were fantastic from Stand By Me, to Bruno Mars, etc. Overall, fun for couples, families, besties, EVERYONE. Some challenges with parking and skeptical policies of security and check in. Just arrive w/ a lot of patience. read more

I was fortunate to have witnessed such an amazing and beautiful experience last Saturday night at the Lights Fest Sacramento. It's a once in a lifetime type of experience that I'd recommend people to experience at least once in their life. However, the Lights Fest company itself has its pros and cons. On the day before the event, I found some negative reviews about the company being a scam, postponing events, and eventually not refunding any of your money back. The more I read the more I got hesitant about going. But that didn't stop me cuz I had already paid for tickets and booked a hotel for that night. Everything was already planned for and if it wasn't going to work out then oh well YOLO! But luckily it did happen!! The festival itself was a little disorganized and needs a lot of improvements. Driving to the parking lot of the Thunderhill Raceway was smooth and easy, but leaving the parking lot after the event was madness! It was like leaving a rave! I'm glad parking was free, but traffic was so bad. It took about 45 mins to get out of the parking lot since there was only one exit! It was also a sold out event and because of this there were WAY too many people. Too many people and not enough torches to light the lanterns. So the lantern launch wasn't all done at once. Not as magical as I had thought it would be, but still an amazing thing to have witnessed when the launch did happen. Check-ins started at 2PM when the gates opened and is where participants will receive their lanterns and a swag bag. We were also suppose to get a swag bag but we didn't? We only got our lanterns, sharpie pens, and wristband and then after we received no directions on where to go and what to do next. You're pretty much left to figure out everything on your own. And there wasn't enough security and workers/volunteers to monitor the event. I don't think anyone was checking wristbands.. This company has a lot of work to do on improving and organizing for future events, and although there are more cons than pros, the major pro itself is the experience you get out of it! Truly something you need to see for yourself cuz pictures don't do any justice! :) read more

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Great experience but really unorganized!!! From the parking lot we had to walk either to wait in line to take the shuttle bus to the check in table or walk about half a mile to the check in table! There were only about 6 shuttles that took you to the check in table and the line was ridiculously long so my friends and I decided to walk! We tried walking where the front of the shuttle line was to start walking to the check in tables but the secruity told us we had to walk around the very very long shuttle line to enter! I was like are you kidding me making us walk all the way around that riducously long line! So we just cut through the line of people waiting for the shuttle and started walking and following those walking to the check in tables! People were complaing about it while we were walking! A line started to form at the check in table and luckily the line wasn't too bad but started to grow up the hill! Once we were close to the check in tables we saw that if you take the shuttle it drops you off to the front of the line and everyone that took the shuttle cut everyone to the front of the line of the check in table! That was not fair people who walked and waited in line were complaining and noticed it too! Once we got to the table the person made us sign a waiver didn't even scan our tickets and gave our lanterns, a marker, and wristband! Like anyone could have got in this event for free! Once we got to the field it was already pretty crowded near the stage area since we got there at 5:30PM. It was really hot that day but got cool once the sun setted! Once it was sunset around 7 they started putting up the torches and once it started to get dark they lit the torches! The torches were placed near the area in front of the stage! All the torches were all placed at that specific spot so that the laterns land in a specific area! So if you are up the hill you had to walk all the way down there! My friends and I were up the hill so we had to walk down to the closest torch! I got pretty scared when lighting the lanterns people were lighting them here and there and people were screaming telling others to watch out because laterns were flying everywhere almost hitting other people, landing on people's stuff, landing on the grass, and even strollers where babies were in! It looked like a nightmare! At least everyone at this event were helping each other out and making sure laterns were not landing on people's heads! Getting out of the parking lot after the event was crazy! Everyone is trying to get out and there is only one way in and one way out! Took forever to get out! In the the end it was fun being with my friends and boyfriend to see all the laterns go up in the sky! read more

What an beautiful night it turned out to be. I'm not going to lie I originally heard about Rise and was disappointed in their prices and The Light Fest popped up on one of my news feeds. I looked into it, and for the price (Reasonable) I booked it over Rise! I could not of had a better time! And will for-sure go next year! (Maybe even to another state they have beside Nevada/Arizona)! The drive from Vegas was pretty easy.. Parking was quick, we arrived about 5:30 (doors open @3:30). Small little line to get your lanterns and we were right in. They didn't really check to see if you purchased tickets though. (Received 1 lantern (can purchase more, which you should!!! A black pen, light and sticker) A down fall of the event is that it wasn't as large as I had imagined, so when we got there it was pretty packed and most people had kinda surrounded each tiki torch as their own that was stationed all over the dirt field. So tip: Get there 3:30 so you get better spacing. (TIP: Arizona time is an hour ahead of VEGAS, so fact that hour in to arriving!) However we did enjoy meeting people next to use and all taking pictures of each other. Lots of food trucks (some lines were alittle longer than I had patience for), some good merchandise, and I think the blow up sitting chairs for sale were a hit (if you brought your own they blew them up for free). Recommendations are for The Light Fest to some how make the lantern release last longer. Between taking photos and taking turns with neighbors lighting each lantern I wanted MORE and MORE. I'm a photo freak and remember to also enjoy your time instead of all the photos. Another thing I wish they did a better job of was managing the parking lot exits. It was a free for all leaving with no one giving directions, soo either sit and hangout until everyone clears the lot or leave as soon as the lanterns are released. read more

The Lights Fest - Festivals Near Me - Willows, California

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Such a fun and amazing experience! Definitely recommend this event to anyone and everyone who wants to expand their bucket list. It's so beautiful and awe inspiring Make sure to arrive early to get good parking as well as a good spot to settle in and get to decorating your lantern. When the officials give you the go ahead, be sure to have your camera ready and of course your lantern! read more

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This place is a scam, and has not given us our refund even though we purchased the refund protection plan

Paid for tickets, then they "postponed" the event. (They said because of weather, but there was no wind in the forecast and no reason to postpone) I tried for months to get a refund, with no response. I had to work with my credit card company to get a refund. read more

I purchased three tickets and could not attend. Their voucher clearly states they will issue a refund (see picture) and despite asking three times very politely, they've not refunded my money. So - I'm left with leaving negative reviews everywhere I possible can. Such a shame. read more

The Lights Fest - Clearly states they will refund but have not despite three requests. - Festivals Near Me - Willows, California

Bought purchase protection and they will not refund me. They emailed me saying they'd process my refund.. a whole 6 months ago. Now they avoid any emails and don't have any other form of contact. read more

I just wanted to reach out and tell you how disappointed me and my family were. We traveled 3 hours away from New Jersey to arrive to an event that was way over capacity. Combining both days (today and tomorrow) was a horrible idea and was unfair for those who purchased tickets for Saturday. All 4 of our lanterns did not work and my kids were extremely disappointed. Waste of time and money! I will be leaving a review because others need to be aware of what a horrible experience we had! read more

The first 2 years were wonderful! Then.. they had 2 guys playing on the scene only who were obviously tired, no one who cared about the passes and they didn't even bring enough lanterns for the advanced ticket speople bought! Ow and last year was the best scam they ever pulled! They decided to light the lanterns at 4 pm! In full day light! The event is advised till 9 pm, but everyone was gone by 4.30 while ppl were still coming! Wrong dates on the email and tickets and no one bothers to refund you for their mistake! Horible scam business!!! Do not use! They will rip you off and you will end up driving to an empty field! read more

Signed up with the location in the Philadelphia, PA area. Purchased the refund protection in case we had to cancel. Requested a refund the day before the event, which was eventually cancelled due to rainy weather. It's been over a month and I still haven't received my money back. They support keeps saying they'll process it in order. This is very bad customer service. read more

I purchased tickets for the 31st of December in Dade city. I paid extra for the insurance just in case it rained which I did. Requested a refund that same day that was back in December. It is now March and I still have not received a refund which I have requested four times. read more