“All the lanterns go up, and it was really beautiful in the sky and it’s dark, and you see all these beautiful lanterns. I was really looking forward to seeing that,” Asim, who is from Milton, Ont., told CBC Hamilton. Instead, she found herself in what felt like “the middle of nowhere” with no cell service before having to turn around and drive more than an hour back to Mississauga with her friends. Attendees were given directions to a farm in the Six Nations of the Grand River, the First Nations community over 100 kilometers from downtown Toronto. Some arrived at the site and were able to participate, but local police turned away others like Asim. “It was just disappointing and you felt devastated,” she said, adding that she and her two friends spent a total of about $190 on tickets. Asim is among many people outraged by what happened on Saturday and are demanding answers from the organisers. They include those who were unable to attend and local residents who say the event should never have taken place.
The lack of communication frustrated ticket holders
The event was is advertised as a “magical evening” starting at 6 p.m. ET in the Toronto area. It was part of a series of events taking place in cities across the US and Canada where people release rice paper lanterns, lit by a flame in the middle, into the sky. The City of Toronto has confirmed that sky lanterns are prohibited in Toronto, “as they fall under the Outdoor Burning section of the Ontario Fire Code,” the city said in an email to the CBC. It’s unclear how many people bought tickets or planned to attend the Ontario stop, but the event’s latest Instagram post had more than 800 comments as of Monday afternoon, with dozens saying they were there or had driven by at the location. Krista Chiaromonte, who drove to Six Nations from Woodbridge, Ont., said she paid $122 for two tickets. He said he got stuck in traffic on the way to the event. “Across the street, we heard people rolling down their windows saying, ‘Oh, it’s canceled,’” Chiaromonte said. Asim said police had set up on a road outside the farm, asking people in cars to leave. He said police told them the event was canceled. Terri Monture, who lives next to the farm where the event was to be held, had different concerns about the event, saying it was problematic when it was last held at the same location in 2019. “People were crossing our fields and our road and damaged my cousin’s crops.” Monture told CBC Hamilton. “Some of the lanterns landed near the distant finished houses on the next concession and nearly caught the roof on fire.” This year, despite many people turning up, Monture said she saw at least 300 lanterns floating in the air. “I have no idea how many cars were coming in and out. It was crazy,” he said, adding that police arrived shortly after 6pm to clear people away while the event’s social media pages remained silent. Hours later, “it was still chaos,” Monture said, with people scrambling to get to the scene. “It was literally an influx of people who had no idea … they were on standby,” he said. “There were thousands of people who were frustrated, pissed off, to be turned away… It was completely disorganized… People peed up and down the street.”
The Six Nations council said no lanterns were allowed
According to its website, the festival is organized by Viive Events. The non-profit organization Better Business Bureau (BBB) lists the company based in the USA, in Utah. A letter sent Aug. 16 by Six Nations Chief-elect Mark Hill to communicate the event with Collin Maki said it was recently brought to the council’s attention that the event was planned for Aug. 20 at a farm in 4 Line. The elected council “has not and will not approve the release of lanterns from the Six Nations of Grand River territory,” the letter said, because “the risk of loss by fire is too great.” The largest Carolina forest in southern Ontario is located in Six Nations. The elected council takes the personal property and health and safety of our community members very seriously.- Mark Hill, Six Nations chief-elect, in a letter contacting the event “The elected board takes the personal property and health and safety of our community members very seriously,” the letter said. “This could cause harm to our neighbors in the surrounding municipalities … adjust your festivals accordingly.” Six Nations spokeswoman Caitlin Court told CBC Hamilton the elected council heard from Maki and a representative of the property, called Johnson Farm, as early as Thursday — two days before the event. It is not clear who exactly owns the property. “Mr. Maki and Johnson Farm have both assured the chief that there will be no lanterns in the area. The event will only include music and vendors,” Court said in an email sent to CBC last week. Six Nations police and fire services did not respond to emailed questions from CBC Hamilton.
Organizers say the event was “100%” approved
Festival organizers answered questions from CBC Hamilton ahead of the event and said there are still plans to release lanterns, adding that it worked “closely” with the Ontario Fire Marshal to ensure the event was safe. “The fuel cell in our lanterns has a burn time of less than a minute… [They] they will burn before descending to a safe recovery area around our event,” the email read, adding that the lanterns are biodegradable and the team will ensure they are cleaned. The festival did not respond to further questions from CBC Hamilton on Monday, but released an online statement Sunday night. “We would like to apologize for any confusion and inconvenience you may have experienced last night [Saturday’s] Toronto Lights Fest. Our event is an event of unity and love and it is disappointing when things get in the way of our purpose,” the statement said. The statement said they followed all procedures and had the proper permits, adding that the event “wasn’t even oversold” and people were enjoying the fun as they waited for the traffic lights to open. Lights Festival organizers say they are setting a new date for the event to cover the night which it says has caused “confusion and inconvenience” for ticket holders. (@canadakigalliyan/Instagram) The statement also said the festival had been held at the same location before “and it was a great time”. “We were understandably shocked to learn that at some point towards the end, the police appeared and were turning people away,” the statement said. “They wouldn’t allow us to talk to these banned participants and they didn’t give us any information to help us understand why they were trying to shut us down … this event was 100 percent approved. We’re still trying to figure out why this happened.” Organizers of the event did not respond to questions from the CBC about the letter sent to them by the elected council on August 16. “We will make it right. We have already begun the search for a new location that will properly host The Lights .. and you will all be welcome back to live for real,” the statement read.
Requests for refunds, sorry
Asim and Chiaromonte said they want an apology and full refund to everyone who attended, especially after hearing the Six Nations did not sanction the event. The other opportunity to get a refund is if the event is canceled and a new date is not set within 90 days of the original event. “It’s really, really unprofessional, disorganized, disappointing,” Chiaromonte said. The company has 52 complaints filed with the BBB, with the complaint pattern “alleging that events that consumers sign up for and pay for are not taking place … Consumers are reaching out to the business for refunds and are being unsuccessful. .. BBB urges consumers to exercise caution when signing up for these types of events.” Asim said the organizers should also apologize to the Six Nations. Chiaromonte added that there should be no more Festivals of Light in the future. “If that’s the way they operate, they shouldn’t be allowed to,” he said.
