It further asks for penalties of $5,000 per week per violation of North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices law.Ī lantern festival was held at the Fayetteville Motor Speedway in 2015, drawing about 2,200 people and launching more than 2,000 balloons, and another was held in 2016. The lawsuit asks the court to order the company to issue refunds to all the customers, not just the ones who filed complaints. Stein’s lawsuit lists 25 people who filed complaints with his office because they did not get refunds. Lantern Fest and Sack Lunch have the same address in Salt Lake City, Utah, the complaint says, and neither company obtained a legally required certificate from North Carolina Secretary of State to transact business in North Carolina. Fayetteville customers were at first told their tickets would be transferred to the Goldsboro event, which was more than an hour’s drive away, the suit says. They continued to be sold to Goldsboro’s festival even after the vendor canceled the Fayetteville festival because of the fire code, the suit says. Tickets to this year's festivals cost $7 to $60 each, Stein's lawsuit says. The lanterns became wedged in the tower and set it on fire about 150 feet above the ground, the Gaston Gazette reported. The fire regulation followed a lantern festival incident in 2015 in which several lanterns floated into a cell phone tower in Gaston County.

1, 2017, it became illegal to launch untethered sky lanterns in this state. 11 in Goldsboro.īut both events were canceled, apparently because of a new North Carolina fire safety regulation.

7 at the Fayetteville Motor Speedway and another one Nov. Lantern Fest Productions, which Stein’s lawsuit says is owned by Sack Lunch Productions, scheduled a lantern festival for Oct. Past lantern festivals have featured music and family activities and culminated with the launch of thousands of lanterns into the sky after sunset. The heat of the flame makes each lantern float into the sky like a hot air balloon. Attorney General Josh Stein said.Īt a lantern festival, aerial lanterns made of paper (also known as sky lanterns or Chinese lanterns) are lit with small fires inside of them. Instead of focusing on building the most glamorous lanterns the creators tried to interpret local cultures in new ways.When a popular aerial lantern festival was canceled in Fayetteville and Goldsboro this past fall, customers who pre-ordered their tickets never got refunds, N.C. To me the most interesting area was dedicated to collaborations between artists and local communities. Tatung Electronics (大同電器), famous for its ultra long life rice cooker.Įach local township in Yunlin had a lantern: Water Lantern Festival is coming to light the water in Reno. Here local towns and companies showcased their own themed lanterns. Individual/Local Government/Company-sponsored Area This year’s main chicken festival lantern.Īnother main statue depicting Yunlin’s major agricultural products: rice, watermelon, peanuts, etc. I heard this was a very important role for the MaZu belief. New this year was an area dedicated to new Taiwanese immigrants from Southeast Asia. There was a huge area dedicated for street vendors all over Taiwan. Of course, a lantern festival without a street food area is inappropriate. Signaling the climax of the Chinese New Year. This year the festival was held in Yunlin (雲林).īelow we show a few highlights from the various themes in the lantern festival. Signaling the climax of the Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival is a wonderous, light-filled experience with fascinating cultural performances. Every year local governments in Taiwan take turns hosting the national lantern festival, displaying many lanterns and organizing various activities. In Taiwan, the Lantern Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar.

Lantern light festival 2017