Is this Britain's Fyre Festival? Revellers demand refunds for £50-a-ticket ... trends now
Revellers have demanded refunds on tickets they bought for a lantern festival advertised online - amid claims the event is a 'social media scam'.
Lantern Festival UK is selling tickets for gatherings in Birmingham and London over the next three months at which people will be allowed to release fire lanterns.
The organisers are selling tickets for up to £50 per person and claim that two events have already sold out while promising to create 'magical moments that leave you breathless and filled with wonder'.
The event has been heavily advertised on TikTok, wowing users of the social media site by showing videos of people releasing the picturesque objects into the night sky.
However, there has been a backlash online with people demanding refunds on their tickets amid allegations the entire event is a scam, with some comparing it to the infamous Fyre Festival and Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience.
And MailOnline can reveal that council's trading standards body is investigating the firm's adverts after finding out that organisers were promoting an event in the area.
Lantern Festival UK claims its tickets are '100 per cent refundable within 14 days of purchase'.
However, its refund policy then goes on to state that 'all ticket sales are deemed as final transactions' and there 'there will be no ticket returns/exchanges/cancellations'. It adds that if the event is cancelled in its entirety due to unforeseen circumstances, it reserves the 'sole and absolute right' to not issue refunds.
Lantern Festival UK has advertised extensively on TikTok, wowing viewers with videos of people releasing fire lanterns into the night sky - using videos from the pages of influencers who had attended similar events, run by other companies, around the world
The majority of videos posted on Lantern Festival UK's TikTok page show promo footage from similar events in the United States and Thailand
Some videos posted by the organisers of the event have been viewed millions of times, hundreds of people buying tickets for events in Birmingham and London
Organisers of the event have used promo images from other lantern gatherings, such as the Yi Peng Festival in Thailand (pictured, stock image)
Since it was first publicised on TikTok in early March, videos showcasing the supposed delights of what Lantern Festival UK could look like have been viewed millions of times on the social media site.
A pre-sale registration form which Lantern Festival UK has links to in its social media purports to have been filled out by more than 45,000 people.
Claiming to be the 'UK's first ever lantern festival', the people behind the event shared videos of hundreds of people releasing fire lanterns, selling it as a fairy tale experience for couples and families alike.
One such video showed a woman releasing a fire lantern only to look down and find her boyfriend on one knee proposing to her, while another portrayed dramatic fireworks being set off in the background.
But these videos were taken outside Britain, with one showing the Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Thailand and another using footage from The Lights Fest which is a series of events in the United States.
Organisers say they have four events organised in the UK so far - two in Birmingham on June 1 and July 13, and two in London on May 26 and June 8.
On its website, Lantern Festival UK says the first Birmingham and London events have sold out, despite still allowing people to buy individual tickets for these dates.
No specific locations have been given for any of the four events, with the website just claiming they will take place in London and Birmingham. The web page claims further details will be announced on April 20.
A website claims that more than 45,000 have signed up for pre-sale registration for tickets for the events
On its website Lantern Festival UK claims to be hosting four events, with
