The Hello Panda Festival. Don't go.

If you were planning on going today, its canceled.

Event IntroFeaturing over 120 lantern exhibits, live entertainment and interactive experiences, the first-ever Hello Panda Festival is designed to stir the senses and inspire imaginations. Our event celebrates the traditional Chinese art of lantern-making with magical displays of light and color, handcrafted by world-class artisans. Other attractions include cultural performances and arts experiences, a holiday market and 60 international food vendors curated by The World’s Fare.
CPAA North America, Inc.Established in NYC in 2013, CPAA North America is a leading producer of arts and entertainment experiences that promote and celebrate diverse cultures. Since 2013, the organization has co-produced events and programs at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center. These include stage productions of Peony Pavilion, Mulan, Qingming Riverside, Silk Road, Dragon Boat Racing and Wedding of Erdos. With multiple years of convention production experience, CPAA North America, Inc. presents the Hello Panda Festival in New York. The Hello Panda Festival aims to become an annual global festival with multiple venues in the next five years.
Hello Panda FestivalOrganized by CPAA North America, Inc., Hello Panda Festival is a worldwide winter festival that celebrates the holiday season with giant lantern displays, entertainment, food, modern art exhibits, interactive games, cultural arts and handicrafts, a holiday market and live stage performances. From December to January, Hello Panda Festival will light up New York City, covering Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. It is the largest lantern show in New York’s history, with over 120 lantern sets displayed at Citi Field in NYC, in addition to events in Vernon, NJ and Catskill, NY.

I went to this festival Saturday night with my wife and some friends and it was not a good time. The line to get in went all the way down Roosevelt Ave, Halfway to Seaver Way.  Security let in backpacks! Backpack! The Scourge of security! I feared for my and others safety seeing all the backpacks around. There was no rhyme or reason to how the displays were laid out. There was a Cinderella's Castle, pandas, dinosaurs, a food court, a dance tent, and an art tent. The animatronic dinos felt like they were out of place. And everything was just looked like it was in a parking lot because it was in a parking lot. They didn't do a good job hiding that or the generators that were powering everything. This all felt like it was thrown together without any kind of a plan. I hated it.

Oh and in true Mets fashion there were no signs telling you were to park and the attendants that were there weren't very helpful with that info... This lantern festival needs to burn itself out.