Mud, continuous rain, endless waiting… The conditions were not right to enjoy the spectacle that the Festival of Lights offers to the Lyonnais each year. The 2023 edition, which ended on Sunday evening, was particularly criticized for its management of the two million expected visitors. The Tête d’Or park, a victim of its success, experienced “very high attendance”. To the point that the organizers of the event posted messages on social networks to encourage the curious… not to go to the site for three evenings in a row and to “favor other sites”.
“The weather and the present world ruined my moment in the park,” protests Kevin, 25, who was nevertheless able to enter the site after waiting for a long time. He was attending his first Festival of Lights. Just like Fernando, 30 years old, from Var. “For me, the Festival of Lights is one of the most traditional in France and I wanted to see it,” he explains, enthusiastically. However, when we arrived at the park, it was a cold shower: “three hours of waiting” on Saturday evening. “It was worth doing at least once in your life, but there were really too many people to make me want to come back,” he continues.
Carried away by the crowd
“Around the Parc de la Tête d’Or, the streets were packed with people,” Kevin responds. It remains dangerous to have a crowd of people arriving in a funnel towards the bag check. » Like every year, the site was only accessible through the main entrance.
Alma deplores the lack of communication from the organizers on site: “There was no indication, we didn’t even know if we were going to the right place.” “We just knew our waiting time, more than an hour, since a woman in a yellow vest shouted it at one point,” she adds, specifying that for her, it is a matter of a “flop”. “I won’t come back,” she concludes.
Disappointment shared by Claire, 54, who came from Nanterre for the occasion: “I was super disappointed, especially by the quality of the event compared to all the media hype that was made.”
“No one knew what was happening and how to get to the park,” laments Claire. He added: “Security told some people that it was better to turn around because the park would close before they had time to reach the entrance gates. »
Contacted by 20 minutesthe city of Lyon did not respond to our request.