Overview

Hype:

Inspired by the traditional lantern festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand, this traveling event gathers people together to decorate their sky lantern and interact with the traditions of cultures other than our own.

Time:

Fees: Admission, lanterns, other stuff

Recommended Ages:

	0-3
	4-11
	12-19
	20-49
	50-69
	70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Links: https://www.nightlightsevent.com/utah

Location

Closest City or Region: Utah Motorsports Campus in Grantsville, Utah

Coordinates: 40.577207, -112.368876

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May 19, 2023 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Greg Dye, Laura Dye,

Story

For my birthday, Tara and I and my parents went to the lantern festival in Tooele. We didn't take the kids because it was expensive and we weren't sure they would do well with the late ending time. We picked up my dad at his house then met my mom at the Orem park-and-ride. Except when we got there we couldn't find her and when we tried to call her, it went straight to voicemail. Turns out her phone had died and her charging cable wasn't working. After waiting for a bit, we gave up temporarily and went to Dairy Queen to get some dinner. Eventually my mom borrowed someone's phone and called us to let us know where she was. She was parked across the street from where we were. So we met up with her and carpooled the rest of the way to Tooele. At the lantern festival, we decorated our lanterns and talked and hung out until it was dark. 

At the countdown, we lit our lanterns and tried to launch them, but they just went up for a second then came back down on top of people. We were afraid they were going to burn people. 

We had gotten extra lanterns because of a black Friday deal, so we tried again with the second round of lanterns, but those also didn't launch. We have a theory that the only lanterns that were hot enough to rise were the ones that people heated up over their campfires. 

When the lantern festival was over, there was a huge traffic congestion to get out of the parking lot. Instead of waiting in line, we pulled out the Pinochle cards and played Pinochle in the car for an hour while the parking lots cleared out. We got home very late.

Pictures