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Frustration in Cloverdale as ticket holders to lantern festival remain in the dark

Workers are setting up at the Art of Lights Festival in Cloverdale, although the doors remained closed. Art of Lights Facebook

Frustration is growing in Cloverdale as a lantern festival slated to open more than a month ago remains closed.

The Art of Lights exhibition remains in the dark and so are customers like Erin Price.

“It’s an eyesore. It’s frustrating. It’s a reminder every time we drive by there, it’s still not open. What’s going on?” Price told Global News.

The display is set up at the Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre.

Mike MacSorley is the general manager of the Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition Association, the landlord who rented the space to Canada Chuansheng Media, which runs the exhibition.

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“You actually have to go through building the stuff and then have someone come through and inspect it to permit it. So you can never actually know if it’s going to pass until it’s actually built,” MacSorley said.

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The City of Surrey says the organizer has failed to meet its electrical and fire safety requirements and until that’s resolved, the doors will remain shut indefinitely.

“They just got a new electrician to work with them on the permitting process and they’re working as hard as they can to get it open,” MacSorley added.

On Friday night, the Art of Lights said that “another major progress” would be done on Monday, and that it would post an update on the situation Monday night.

Monday, the festival did not provide an update to the public and removed its Facebook event page.

For now, ticket holders like Price are left waiting indefinitely.

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