Ballooning crisis: 300 customers plan legal action over Hong Kong fest fiasco
Complaints are mounting over trouble-plagued hot-air balloon festival, with looming storm potentially adding to organiser’s problems
More than 300 angry customers are planning to take legal action against a trouble-plagued hot-air balloon festival in Hong Kong, with grievances mounting over deflated displays, a singer pulling out of a related concert and the event potentially being cancelled because of an approaching storm.
Visitors to the AIA International Hot Air Balloon Fest Hong Kong at the Central harbourfront faced disappointment for a third day on Saturday, as the organiser deflated displays again for part of the morning and evening sessions because of high temperatures and revised the schedule of events.
The HK$30 million (US$3.8 million) four-day event, which runs until Sunday, first drew fire after the organiser failed to get a licence for tethered balloon rides it had advertised, with affected customers and the consumer watchdog urging it to offer refunds.
The festival, which includes nightly music shows, took another hit on Saturday as singer Endy Chow Kwok-yin was forced to pull out after suffering from food poisoning.
In a social media post, Chow apologised to his fans who had bought tickets and said that he would cover their transport and hotel expenses.
An approaching storm also added to the organiser’s troubles, with the Observatory set to issue the No 3 typhoon signal before 3am on Sunday.