The event was fantastic, truly magical moments and plenty of food choices. Each tickets receive 2 lanterns to release. However, we arrived late at event place due to delay to transfer to event place. The only downside is the travel to the venue area. Queuing up at Maya mall took 2 hours despite taking Premium / VIP tickets. Also, no clear directions given on how the system works during queuing up to board transfer vans. If you intent to visit this festival, please make sure you’re many hours earlier at pick up point than scheduled pick up time, as there would be thousands of people waiting for their turn to board the vans as well.

WOW what a nightmare. non Thai speaking visitors be aware for next year 2025. Our VIP tickets cost 215.00 US dollars, Skip the line...NOT. We bought on Viator 7 months ahead. DO NOT BOOK YOUR OWN TICKETS! Showed at at Maya Mall at 3:00pm Information was terrible. Finally asking people in long lines are you "VIP" yes. The line to get a bus ticket to event 1 hour away was 40 minutes. Got mini van sticker and had to push my way on a 10 pax van people struggling to get on any van that showed up no real que line. 1:15 to field event. Got to event alone my partner was so upset he left at the Maya Mall. Just enough spoke English and I got my pass BUT THE E-TICKET WE WERE SUPPOSE TO RECIEVE WE NEVER GOT. Important...directions say get to Maya Mall at 3-3:30 NO get to the mall at 2:00. I got to the event at 6:30 and food stations were there but if you get there late it's gone by 7:30. VERY DISTURBING NO WATER!!! I finally found one little station serving 6 ounce cups of water with ice Sadly I never went to my seat just 8 rows from the stage. Thousands attended and after the ride out I was ready to get the first seat out of there...and I did ...staying on the grounds out of the ticketed area. As lanterns sent up I got to hear the amazing orchestra ban play, see more fireworks and run to get out. Find the exit route and look for signs to Maya Mall starting place. Thankfully the driver had had it too and on a 10 pax van I had 4 empty seats next to me. Got to the Mall and got TuK Tuk to old city 300 THB but worth it. BUT when the lanterns were released it was an event of a lifetime. HIRE A LOCAL AGENCY WITH TRANSPORTATION TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH...this totally disorganized event. But totally worth seeing!

We have had the pleasure of attending this on 16th November 2024. Bottom line : Amazing experience , try it without a doubt Pro tip: If you can ride a motorbike , just ride it to the event (address: CAD Cultural Land) . It’s about 35 kms from Chiang Mai and takes less than an hour and it saves lot of time to skip transport service. Overall experience: Reading all online reviews from 2022/2023, we were skeptical and man the event organisers has exceeded all our expectations ! Everything was organised and planned properly , lot of snacks before the actual food is served in the respective areas for Standard/VIP/Premium. There was a bit of queue in the food area , but with so many folks around it’s expected ! They had lot of support staff , they were even on standby with fire extinguishers when the sky lanterns were being lit. Great experience and would recommend it for everyone !

Extremely poor arrangements! Chaotic at pickup point! Lack of crowd control measurement for such an important event! We waited for more than 1 hr in line under the heat, ended up not be able to get on shuttle bus!! Just because the staff in charge didn't tell us we need to use e-tix to exchange for a sticker 1st! And there was no sign shown this at the site!! She told us we need to queue the other line for the sticker which was anther 1 hr waiting under the scorching sun! The photo shows the staff member who failed to give clear instructions and blamed us instead! She refused to show her staff card and refused to give her name. Totally irresponsible attitude! Very poor arrangements for such a big events!

We purchased premium tickets for the event, which included transportation, cultural experiences, a premium buffet meal, and excellent seating for the lantern lighting. Online, it seemed like a dream experience, and the organization appeared to be well-prepared. Everything was marketed as seamless—you simply had to show up at the meeting point, located at the Maya shopping center. However, when we arrived, there was no clear signage or guidance on where to begin the process. After some confusion, we eventually found the right spot and were given stickers to put on our cell phones. Later, we discovered these stickers left adhesive residue on our phone cases, causing damage. We proceeded to the line for the transportation buses, where we waited for nearly four hours in the sun, without shade, water, or access to bathrooms. There were no staff monitoring the line, leaving attendees exposed to the heat and dehydration. When the buses finally began arriving, the situation descended into chaos. Multiple lines formed, and it felt like a scene from a zombie movie as people rushed toward any available bus. The lack of organization led to physical fights between attendees, and we witnessed several altercations, including one where a guest attacked the overwhelmed staff. Eventually, we boarded a bus after seeing an enraged, dehydrated guest in a near-brawl with the limited staff. We arrived at the venue around 7 PM, missing the promised cultural events. We barely had time to eat before being rushed to the lantern-lighting area. During dinner, something terrifying happened. We were seated near the edge of the premium dining area when, without warning, fireworks were launched dangerously close to us. One member of our group was actually struck on the hand by a firework projectile. The proximity of the fireworks was alarming and made it clear that the organizers had little regard for guest safety. After dinner, we attended the show, which was a massive disappointment. The performers didn’t actually play instruments or engage in any authentic cultural acts—they merely pretended, making the entire performance feel absurd and disingenuous. The emcees’ commentary felt like we were at a cheap carnival, and most concerningly, there was no mention of the history or significance of the lantern festival. Additionally, no announcements were made in Thai, which was insulting to the Thai members of our group. The worst part of the experience was the lantern-lighting itself. The instructions were unclear, like everything else at this event, leading to widespread confusion. Guests began lighting lanterns at random, which created a dangerously chaotic environment. Fires broke out near us, and multiple lanterns flew into the crowd, with one nearly hitting my hair and face. A child was almost struck by a flaming lantern. This happened because the organizers failed to instruct attendees to hold the lanterns for two minutes before releasing them. As a result, many lanterns were released prematurely, still aflame, causing chaos and serious safety risks. It was evident that the organizers prioritized profit over the health and safety of their guests. After the lanterns were released, we left early to avoid the inevitable transportation nightmare. We managed to get on the first bus back, but the scene outside was as chaotic as before, with mobs of people scrambling for buses. This event was the most disorganized and unsafe experience I have ever encountered. I will be reporting this organization to the Thai authorities, not only for their incompetence in managing transportation and logistics but also for their blatant disregard for guest safety. If you value your health and well-being, I strongly advise against attending this event.

The arrangement was chaotic. Individuals exposed to excessive sunlight while waiting for the NON air-conditioned shuttle vehicles for hours! The venue accommodate people participating different events, but there’s NO sign and NO staff to guide people to queue in the correct spot. When we arrived the event venue, there was no food remaining for those who arrived later. It resembled a refugee camp! During lantern releasing, there was fire everywhere and not enough staff to put out the fire. Tutorial for releasing lanterns was very brief and untimely to catch people’s attention. Post-event, the traffic was horrible and people had to wait very long for shuttles.

Whole experience was a complete waste. Tried to take the vouchers and get tickets a day ahead of time and you can’t. Arrived 10 minutes before the 3:30 pm start to exchanging vouchers for tickets and there was already a 400 person mob, Lines everywhere, multiple tents exchanging tickets, no clear signage, nothing in English, no one knew anything. Wasted 20 minutes just trying to find out which line we needed to be in. Finally got in line and we’re staring at an hour to get our tickets, 45 minutes to get on the mobbed vans to the venue, and then another hour to get to the venue. I took one look at that and walked away. A complete cluster-f A complete waste of $240. Is this what VIP means?👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎

Zero, bought tickets and never received them. What a scam- don’t buy from this website. What a joke, I want my money back!!!!

We paid a lot to get premium tickets. The seats were so close together. Twice someone's lantern caught fire and we had nowhere to escape. One worker was climbing the chairs to put the fire out with this tiny fire extinguisher. All our pictures came out us squished between rows of chairs and not aesthetic. I was also constantly told off for not wearing my ticket/lanyard around my neck when I'd taken it off for a picture They sold so many 'premium' tickets that the premium food area had long queues. There weren't as many vegetarian options despite us telling them ahead of time. The shows were boring and we couldnt wait for the lanterns to be honest. Seeing all them lanterns in the sky was amazing. But I wish I'd seen it from afar and not bothered with all this

This was a great experience and we got more than we bargained for. The class was both entertaining and engaging. Perm and team were superb throughout. Highly recommended fir anyone who likes Thai food.

So organised, funny, easy to follow instructions. Did I say well organised? Clean, friendly and delicious. Don’t come with a full belly. So much food to taste during the process.

Phony shows of what are supposed to be traditional music and dances. Poorly organized, long lines for restroom and food, delays and no concern for safety. The stage just burnt down and people had to be evacuated. Way preferable to book cheaper and simpler events directly at the local travel agencies. This one is too big, badly organized and a rip off. They make it look like it's the only option available, but it's not.

This was the best cooking class that I have ever done! Instructions and humour were amazing! I loved that we got to pick the dishes that we cooked and that we got the recipe book at the end! Everything was so yummy and fresh! An absolute must do !!!

Terrible organization. Messy, confusing. The performances were poor to say the least. Drum show had playback and wasn’t even synced properly. Everything was late due to having only one entrance for the stage area, so they had to wait until everyone was in to start. Finally, the horrible lack of planning and safety, when the clearly very flamable stage burned down completely. Luckily, no casualties or significative injures reported, only minor injuries. Leaving the place after that took forever and was very chaotic. Would’t ever go again.

I would recommend this activity to anyone visiting Chiang Mai who wants to learn more about cooking! We had so much fun, and appreciated we were able to choose our preferred meals to learn to cook. It is the perfect activity for couples, as well as groups big and small. Thank you Perm!