The NCA has no knowledge of a Halloween event tonight on the lawns of Old Parliament House. Photo: File.
Halloween is meant to be scary, but it just became real for at least one resident.
“I think I have been scammed: Halloween Wonderland in Canberra on the lawns of OPH – please tell me it’s real,” a member of the Canberra Community Notice Board Group on Facebook wrote earlier this week.
Comments rang with “nope, it’s a scam”, “never heard of it”, and “call your bank”.
“It’s a scam, sadly. The same event was advertised last year and many people (including myself) were scammed. Never got my money back,” one wrote.
“There was meant to be a Halloween event last year at the same location, which I think was a scam, too. Suddenly vanished days before Halloween,” another said.
Halloween scam. Photo: Canberra Community Notice Board, Facebook.
The National Capital Authority (NCA), which oversees the National Triangle (including Old Parliament House) on behalf of the Federal Government, confirmed to Region it has no knowledge of the event either.
“We have no booked events, enquiries or knowledge of activities on the lawns of Old Parliament House under ‘Halloween Wonderland’ for this weekend,” a spokesperson said.
A Google search for Halloween Wonderland brings up nothing either.
It’s not the first time a Canberra event has mysteriously come and gone in the lead-up to Halloween.
Last year, “Canberra’s Halloween Fest” boasted to bring “tones [sic] of candy, kids’ zone, trick or treat, dancing, games or prizes” to the Patrick White Lawns on Saturday, 26 October from 4 to 10 pm.
It was even shared on the NCA’s National Triangle Facebook page; however, it’s not listed on the NCA’s website under “previous events”.
Maybe the misspelling of “tonnes” in the description should have been a giveaway, but two days before the event was meant to take place, a notice was posted to its Instagram page, saying it had been cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
“It is with extreme disappointment that we inform you that our upcoming Canberra’s Halloween Fest … has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances,” it read.
“All previously purchased tickets will be refunded.” Ticket purchasers have indicated this was not the case.
Last year’s Halloween event that was never to be. Photo: Canberra Halloween Fest, Facebook.
In January of this year, a “Water Lantern Festival” was under similar scrutiny, after it used the NCA’s logo on its website and sold tickets to an event on Lake Burley Griffin without the NCA’s prior approval.
For $38.75, a ticket buyer would get “access to a variety of food trucks, one floating lantern kit, a marker for personalizing your lantern, a deck of playing cards, conversation cards for sharing moments with friends and family, and entry into the scavenger hunt giveaway”.
Critics were quick to point out its similarities to “Lantern Festival UK” and “Lantern Festival Australia”, both names associated with scams where tickets would be sold only for the event to quietly disappear as the day approached.
Initially, the NCA said it was “in the process of assessing the application”, but later said approval was denied.
The festival responded, claiming it had nothing to do with other “fraudulent events” and claimed it was already processing refunds for people who had chosen to opt out.
The following month, the Water Lantern Festival tried to relocate to the Canberra Public Golf Course in Narrabundah, but this venue then pulled its approval due to “misinformation circulating about our event”.
The Water Lantern Festival claimed it had nothing to do with similarly named scams in Australia and overseas. Photo: Water Lantern Festival.
Water Lantern Festival CEO Burke McArthur told Region the team had “worked tirelessly to find a new venue but felt it was being rushed”.
“As such, we made the call to cancel the Canberra event,” he said.
Visit ScamWatch for information on how to avoid scams, and what to do if you suspect you’ve been scammed.
