Winter ‘Snow Village’ forced to apologize after Fyre Festival-esque debacle: ‘A very bad impression’

February 20, 2025

Fyre Festival — but make it winter.

A local tourist attraction in southwestern China left guests hoodwinked and led astray.

The Chengdu Snow Village project in Sichuan attempted to lure in tourists and visitors during the Lunar New Year with a winter wonderland advertised to feature log cabins and thick layers of snow blanketing the roofs.

But when visitors arrived, they discovered the “snow” was just large cotton bedsheets, foamy water, white sand and cotton balls.

Photos shared on social media showed pieces of cotton scattered across a field and in the branches of small bushes. The larger cotton sheet over the roofs also had staple marks clearly visible to guests.

The project apologized, blaming the abnormally warm weather.

“In order to create a ‘snowy’ atmosphere, the tourist village purchased cotton for the snow … but it did not achieve the expected effect, leaving a very bad impression on tourists who came to visit,” it said in a statement, adding that refunds will be provided, according to Reuters.

“Following the precedents of previous years, we typically have snow in winter. So we set up this spot for photoshoot in advance to wait for the snow to come,” a Snow Village staff member told the state-run paper Global Times. “However, this year, the weather didn’t cooperate, and it didn’t snow.”

Market regulation authorities are investigating the snow village for suspected false advertising, the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism said in a statement.

The Chengdu Snow Village has removed all images of the attraction from its social media pages, and the venue has since closed down.