Back in 2018, I tried to attend a lantern festival but got rained out. In the years that followed, I tried again but something always came up. This year, I was finally successful! In the past, I used The Lantern Fest which was a terrible company when it came to customer service and handling refunds when mother nature got in the way. They’re not around anymore because of how bad the company was. This time I used Night Lights, which came recommended by friends who had attended multiple events in the past and raved about it. I can attest this time that this company was much better and kept us updated every step of the way, both emailing and texting us reminders as our event date grew near, as well as provide us with FAQs and tips to maximize having a great time. They have multiple locations they hold their events at and I picked the Poconos for mine since that was the closest one to me. It was still a little bit of a trip so I hope one day they bring this to New York.

We were a little late due to the slow flow of traffic getting in and parking so we didn’t get to experience the festival grounds and vendors and take more photos but we arrived just in time to check in, receive our lanterns and pick a decent spot on the grounds to relax for about a half hour while we waited for it to get dark enough for the venue to give everyone the green light to launch our lanterns. If I were to do this again, I would definitely try to get there a little earlier. It does take some time to walk from the parking lot and into the grounds, and the lines to check in are long, although they move pretty quickly. It’s just nice to not feel rushed and have to quickly find a spot before it gets dark.

The cute “golden tickets” they give you to trade in for your lanterns are a really cute souvenir for the event. The lantern bag they provide you with is really well put together. It comes with a lantern (duh), a BIC lighter, a prayer flag for you to decorate and hang up at walls throughout the grounds, a marker for you to decorate your prayer flag or lantern with, a cute sticker to commemorate the event and a small postcard with instructions. I brought my own markers but it was nice to see they provide you with a small one just in case you didn’t think to bring any. They also provide each party with a trash bag for you to discard anything you brought with you and help make their cleanup afterwards easier. You also get a wristband in case you want to leave and come back (since the grounds open at 3pm but the launch doesn’t happen till after sunset). I saw quite a few food vendors and some cute wares but didn’t have time to browse. Maybe it’s for the best since it saves me money. They also have stations where you can buy little campfire kits along with a smores kit. I saw a lot of parties doing this and it was really cute and romantic to see the couples and girly pops sharing these.

We got lucky and found a decent spot with enough room as well as ample personal space around us so we didn’t feel like people were on top of us. We were also lucky because we were close by an exit way to get back to our cars so we didn’t have have to fight the crowds when heading out later on. We were also thrice lucky because the weather was not only perfect that day, but the temperatures were too. It wasn’t too hot or too cold. I brought a cardigan but didn’t need it because it was so comfortably cool at night.

While we waited for it to get dark, we decorated our lanterns. I brought much thicker markers than the ones they provided so that it would look bolder and much easier to see once lit up. I would recommend decorating your lantern, and while letting it dry, keep it away from anything that may get the lantern moist like the ground or any nearby liquids. The moisture can affect the lantern to feel a little damp and it may delay it inflating properly when it has to heat up. For my lantern, I wrote my instagram handle on one side and my and Dario’s names on the other with our wedding date and my sister’s and my baby boy’s name since that’s basically our little nontraditional family. My sister drew a cute little outline of Banh Mi on it for me.

When it came to finally getting our lanterns ready, this was quite an experience, learning how to light and launch these bad boys. It’s not as easy as it looks and has a bit of a learning curve. It also doesn’t help if you’re afraid of fire like me. But luckily, my cute hubby was able to figure it out and successfully launch 3 out of our 4 lanterns (Our admission was for 3 but the worker handling my ticket was really nice and gave us an extra one for free which worked out well since 1 of them failed, lol). I bought our own handheld lighter instead of using the provided BIC lighters and it was a big help lighting the four corners of the fuel cell without having to worry about burning yourself. You basically shake open the bag and try to catch as much air as you can with it to fill it up. Then you light the four corners of the square fuel cell and wait for it to fill up with hot air til it can rise on it’s own, without you having to hold it upright anymore. This takes some time but as soon as you can feel the bag lifting on its own, then seize your moment; it’s time to let it go and release! You don’t want to wait too long after that or it won’t have as much time to fly up and stay in the sky.

Once lit, it was really something to launch into the air once it decides it’s “ready.” And then when all the lanterns fill the sky, it’s absolutely magical. I wanted to run through the field as they danced through the sky. It really felt like the Tangled scene and I wish I was sitting in a boat as this moment happened. The launch lasts about a half hour or so as everyone takes their time to get their own lantern into the sky. When the sky is the most filled with all the lanterns towards the midpoint of the event is when it’s the most beautiful. I wish it lasted longer honestly but the lanterns are only given a small fuel cell to last a short time in the sky. It’s flight time is limited by the fuel cell. I learned this is how they control the lanterns from straying too far to make for a much easier cleanup of the event afterwards. It makes sense but I wish there was more time to enjoy them.

Would I come back and do this again? Absolutely. It was such a beautiful and romantic experience I wish I could do this every year if it wasn’t so far to drive to but I definitely want to make this a repeat experience. Would I recommend this? UM YES. It’s absolutely magical.

I want to note this experience was not sponsored and these are my own honest opinions! I mean, why else would I recommend an experience that I myself want to come back and experience again? If you’re a big Tangled fan or just a romantic in general, or even for a cute picnic date with friends, you’ll love this. Definitely something you should experience once in your life and I didn’t have to go all the way to Asia for it (which is where it’s more popularly held and originated from).

I bought these tickets during their 4th of July sale this year, but they have tickets available in the fall around Thanksgiving for the next year for their early bird pricing. It’s a gamble though because the schedule is so far out, and you can’t predict the weather. So for early bird pricing, it’s great if you’re able to know your next year itinerary and work schedule ahead of time to save money. The weather, well, obviously you can’t know that a year in advance so you have to be ok with gambling that part. They do offer ticket protection as well but it’s an extra cost to guarantee your refund if plans don’t work out for you. They also do offer rescheduling if the weather causes the event to be cancelled, but again, this is also a gamble if the rescheduled date works for you and your schedule on short notice. If they end up cancelling altogether because all makeup dates don’t work out, then they do offer full refunds. I did buy tickets 2 years ago during their Black Friday sale and then found out a month before the event that I had to work. I didn’t buy ticket protection but was luckily able to find people who wanted to buy my tickets through a Facebook group. That’s also a gamble so make sure you read the fine print and are ok with your losses if things don’t pan out.

All of this to say, despite the risks trying to plan this out, it was definitely worth doing at least once in your life. It was such a beautiful night and all the stars aligned finally for me to have the best experience and I’m so glad it finally all worked out. It was a great way to ring in this beautiful birthday season on my long list of events I’m trying to check off my life this year.