No refund for tickets sold, says Singapore Sky Lantern Festival organiser

The organiser of the Singapore Sky Lantern Festival at Sentosa said on Tuesday (Feb 27) that it will not be issuing refunds, a week after attendees complained about the event.

"Ticket sales are final and non-refundable," wrote Shiermie Bautista, owner of Asian Couture and Boutique, in a Facebook post. 

The tickets can be used for the rescheduled event - which will happen around the first week of April, she said.

Bautista's statement comes amidst an outcry from event attendees who said they "felt scammed" after the festival's sky lantern light up on Feb 21 was cancelled at the last minute.

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Having paid about $50 for a ticket, they demanded a refund.

On Tuesday, the event organiser said that it was "advised at the last minute" not to proceed with the tethered lantern light up.

According to Bautista, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) inspected the event venue and found that there was an inadequate supply of fire extinguishers there.

"We decided to reschedule the release to another day instead, as it might cause a stampede," she said.

"As public safety is our utmost concern, we adhered to the authorities' safety guidelines. Apologies for the inconvenience."

However, the event organiser's explanation did not sit well with the public, as some people took to Reddit to express their anger.

One netizen said: "Why bother redoing the whole thing when they didn't even plan properly the first time? Don't waste everyone's time and don't give them false hope again. So f*****g ridiculous."

"Who would want to give this event a second chance after the disaster that happened initially?" asked another.

Meanwhile, a third netizen compared the event to the infamous Fyre Festival scandal, saying: "Isn't this exactly what Fyre promised?"

AsiaOne has contacted the SCDF for comment.

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com

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