Lightsfest is one of the events that replicate the lantern festival common in Asia, and (possibly) made even more popular in the US because of the Disney movie, Tangled.
Link to our reel near the end of the post.
This is my first time ever attending, but I’ve been considering it for a few years. I have a friend who went to one of the first lantern events in Las Vegas and had a wonderful time. However, she admitted that while she and her husband coasted through the event with no issues, their friends were stuck for hours at the event waiting for shuttles that were overwhelmed by the number of attendees.
Early Lights Festival Experiences
A common theme I had heard about with the variety of light festivals was that they were disorganized. Whether it was a lack of security, supplies, transportation, or proper instructions, it was always lacking something.
My own first experience dealing with the event came during the pandemic. We were promised that proper precautions were being taken and that the event was going to continue. So we planned a whole vacation around the event, spent for the road trip and the Airbnb, and got cancelled on during the morning of the event. Still, we had a good vacation, so we didn’t mind too much.
My second time around was like the first, but it was moved to a different location. It was a rescheduling of the first canceled event. On the day of, we received an email canceling the event, followed by an email saying that the event will continue, rinse, and repeat.
Finally, it seemed like the event was truly going to go ahead and happen. So we drove out to the location… only to find out that we had missed the whole thing because the instructions didn’t warn us about the time difference. We apparently had crossed a time zone and had no idea.
Was it their fault or ours? I guess it could’ve gone either way, but I would still stand by the idea that as an event organizer, this might be something you wanna have in the info packet you send out to your attendees. Just as a little additional courtesy.
To their credit, they refunded us with no issues. It really wasn’t on my mind to try again but Chris apparently saw that Colbie Caillat was coming to perform and he knew I was gonna go nuts over her. He bought us tickets as a surprise and we had a wonderful fucking time. 10/10 would go again!
LightsFest Mexicali
Our Lightsfest event was in Imperial, CA in a location that looks like it’s normally occupied by ATV riders. It’s secluded, but not too far out of nowhere. There was a small town and large gas station with a shop just 20 minutes from the place.
Restrooms
It is very dusty and – while not everyone cares about this – it’s gonna be a porta-potty situation. They had a lot, though, so it didn’t get to be a hot mess. There was a line about 5-7 at the entrance by the parking lot, a row of about 10 after the ticket area, and two other sections closer to the stage with 10ish units. There weren’t stalls for washing hands, so bring some wipes. Just to be safe, we also brought a roll of toilet paper that we didn’t end up needing, but still.
Season
We went in autumn, which was very comfortable in SoCal. I would suggest going during this season if you’re in this area for the easiest time. Based on other blogs and my own experience with SoCal desert weather, I was expecting to be melting during the daytime and freezing at night, so I dressed and packed clothes accordingly.
What I wore
I wore a lightweight romper with a t-shirt under it, a cap, and some sneakers. I also packed some jeans and a quilted bomber for the nighttime. Turns out I didn’t need either because the night was so perfect.
Things to Consider When Attending LightsFest
Come Early
This isn’t a must, but in my opinion helped to make it a really relaxing event. We got there a little after doors opened and were only in line to park for about 15 minutes and walked right in. We parked only about 5 rows from the front entrance.
We had our choice of places to sit at and settled in really quickly. There were plenty of empty squares to occupy, marked by tiki torches. We spent the next few hours listening to music, having our picnic lunch, and even taking a nap.
Bring Shade – Tents or Umbrellas
This is a tip I saw on another blog and it was a lifesaver. It did not even occur to me that tents were allowed, so when I saw this, our beach tent became the very first thing I threw in the car even before I started packing anything else.
It was great during the day to keep us sheltered from the sun, have some privacy while we napped or when I changed clothes. During pandemic times, it was also kinda nice to have some space in between. Granted, by the end of the night many of us were close together lighting lanterns, but a little space is always nice.
Bring a Cart
Even more important than having a tent is to bring a cart/wagon to haul your stuff along, even if you don’t decide to bring a tent.
We had a small grocery cart that fit our cooler bag, a fuzzy blanket, a floor mat, our bag of clothes, and two tripods. Our tent had a sling on it so we just carried that one on our back.
It’s a very helpful convenience, especially if you’re coming as early as we did and are packing food and entertainment.
Bring entertainment
Most people didn’t have reception, according to the MC. Although entertainment on the stage did start immediately, I was prepared with a downloaded movie on my phone, Bluetooth speakers, and downloaded book, and a battery-operated radio/light/battery pack that I borrowed from our emergency kit.
We didn’t end up using those things because we got into the music that was playing, but the radio certainly was helpful at the end of the night. We decided to wait out the traffic jam of cars that were leaving. We spent an extra hour inside the event listening to the end of the night show. When we decided to pack up and head out, the line was still long, so we used the radio for music instead and chatted in the car for another hour and a half.
You definitely don’t have to wait as long as we did, but it made for an easy exit for us.
With that in mind…
Make Plans to Stay After Hours
The line getting out can get long, as mentioned above, we stayed well past the end of the event. Lanterns were lit and flown away by 8:45 pm. We drove out of the parking lot at around 10:30 pm. Again, you don’t have to wait as long we did, but we were enjoying our time and weren’t in a hurry. People who got in the exit queue earlier than 9:30 pm, which is when we packed up and went to the parking lot, were bored out of their minds in line. I saw a few people standing on top of their cars or hanging out of their sunroof just to get out of the car.
The organizers seemed to be prepared for this as they kept a concert going on the stage, many people who snuck in their own lanterns were freely lighting them and setting them loose, and the food trucks and security seemed to expect that they won’t be going anywhere for a while. Nothing was being taken down, so bathrooms were also widely available til past the end of the event.
Bring Walkie-Talkies
I was expecting that I might have shitty reception, so I brought our camping walkies in case we needed to separate. We carried it when we went to the bathrooms in case someone got lost on the way back. This was the most useful at the end of the night when the rows of cars in the parking lot had dissolved into a smatter of cars in random spots and we couldn’t find where we parked exactly.
One person stayed behind with all the stuff while another person walked around to find the car. Once we found it, we met up to split up the stuff and take it to the car together.
Bring a Picnic
Even with the warning from Lightsfest that there was going to be limited food trucks at the event, it looked like there were quite a bit of choices. We brought a little canvas beach cooler with snacks and wraps from Trader Joe’s, three thermoses of ice water, and a couple of water bottles. It was nice. Once we popped up the tent and set everything inside, we didn’t have to do much else.
Bring Tripods!
I own two tripods just because I love photos and one of them came with a telescope I got Chris for his birthday. We brought two because I wasn’t sure if my phone was gonna take good video at night. So, I also packed my G7x. I’m so glad that I did because while both were very good quality, one was obviously better than the other and I was able to have landscape and portrait orientation videos. The ones I brought are below:
I brought my ubeesize tripod with rotating phone mount. I use this set together all the time and take it on all our trips. The rotating mount makes it easy to change orientation and this specific tripod is so slim that I just hang it off of my backpack. I get super self-conscious when taking pics, so I also like that the tripod is so easy to miss.
I also brought the amazon basics tripod for the G7x. It’s a bit heftier and has a hook at the bottom to hang weight on in case you’re taking pics when it’s windy. Also, it was the only other skinny tripod in the house, so it was perfect.
And, lastly, a selfie light. I mean, why not, right? I used it for a few videos of us once it got dark, but I also use it as a night light and i clip it to myself so I can be easier spotted in a crowd. I’m a short person, so being able to wave my selfie light around while saying, “I’m waving my circle light, can you see me?” on the walkie really helps.
Lighting the Lanterns
Main event talk, though: once the lanterns were lit and floating up in the air… that shit was fucking magical! The lanterns were all over the sky. It felt unreal. For a while, it felt a lot like I was using a VR headset because it just wasn’t anything I could ever imagine. I literally teared up.
The lanterns do come with instructions and they do a demonstration before it’s time. Some people got impatient and were lighting lanterns well before the time and just gave no shits. But they missed out on lighting it with the masses and it kinda matters because the explosion of tiny little lights is a large part of the experience.
We had a great time and were even discussing making it an annual thing. I would definitely go for it and I’m hoping for more acts like (if not actually) Colbie Caillat. Anuhea would be such a vibe. Jessica Domingo would be so magical. I’m just sayin.
By the way: To give proper credit, two of the biggest reasons we had a great time is because of these two blogs below. They gave some great tips on how to have the most comfortable experience and let me learn from their mistakes. Thank you to these two ladies for sharing their experiences. It really helped make ours amazing.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
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