Snake River Landing

Bought five tickets ($183.42, 4 adults, 1 youth) for the Idaho Falls, Idaho Water Lantern Festival June 17, 2023. It was held at a small man-made pond in the Snake River Landing area.

The event boasted 'early bird pricing' with a deadline when the ticket prices would go up. But for weeks, they just extended the deadline, never actually raising prices, so I'm guessing our 'early bird pricing' was just the regular ticket price. Even with this scam of a 'deal' you can see the tickets were still very expensive at almost $200.

Each adult ticket was $26.98 and had an additional $5.97 fee tacked on. The $12.45 youth ticket had a $2.98 fee tacked on. When I purchased tickets, it didn't sound like the youth ticket included a lantern kit, so I paid $19.99 for an additional lantern kit, but didn't end up needing it and could not get a refund.

Finally, an additional $16.20 was tacked on at the end for facility fees and taxes for the grand total of $183.42.

I'm not sure what the facility fee was for, the event was held in an open park and most people parked on the street.

From their ticketing page: "Each adult ticket includes a wristband for entry into the festival area with access to food trucks, one floating lantern kit, marker, drawstring bag, playing cards, conversation cards, and scavenger hunt giveaway entry."

Youth tickets include the same kit, but a kid ticket (ages 0-7) do not include a lantern kit. However, as stated, the lantern kits alone are $19.99 so it would be cheaper to buy your kids ages 0-7 a youth ticket, even with the fee.

The floating lantern kits were nice. Cheap, but nice. Easy to put together and we appreciated the included pink marker. The pink color dried nicely on the absorbent paper and glowed prettily with the included battery powered candle. If we'd brought our own markers, the designs would have been darker and less illuminated once lit.

The drawstring bag is handy, but cheap trash. We didn't need 5 sets of playing cards or 5 sets of conversation cards, and the scavenger hunt giveaway just looks like a scammy way for the organization to collect a host of email addresses; we did not enter.

The wristbands don't do a thing; no one checks them, and because the event is held in an open park space, anyone could have walked in and accessed the food trucks (of which there were only three(!), each with mile-long lines). When you check in, a teenager scans your ticket and then another teenager counted out the kit bags for us. No one did any checking to see what package or add-ons we might have purchased (you can add on blankets, glow sticks, etc, for an additional fee.) No one told us a $4 coupon for merchandise was in each bag, so when we bought their overpriced medallion blankets (very, very thin) we cold have saved some pennies.

In reality, someone could purchase their own, much cheaper lantern kit, and just show up and participate. Absolutely no one would notice or care.

The event started at 6pm, with lantern decorating and lantern stories happening around 8, then launching from 9:00 - 10:00pm. We showed up at 7:30pm anticipating crowds and parking issues, but there weren't any. Compared to our annual 4th of July celebration, this was only a fraction of that enormous crowd. We thought there would be vendors to see and things to do. There were vendors but they were very random and nothing my kids were interested in. There were no bounce houses or any activities that made our exorbitant ticket prices feel worthwhile. If there were lawn games going on, they weren't labeled and had no organizers.

The only official Water Festival people we saw were at the check-in and merchandising tents.

Though the descriptions said 'live music' there was no band. There was a big DJ set up and the music was nice. The sound system was not loud enough to hear the lantern stories at the other end of the pond though.

We ended up spreading out their thin blankets and decorating our lanterns, which was a nice family activity. But then we had an hour to wait and didn't want to fight for a spot in the meager food truck options, so we left. We went into Idaho Falls and got food at a couple different places, and drove back in time to launch our lanterns with everyone else.

The actual lantern launching was nice. The wind was going, so everyone needed to go to the south end of the pond. I'm not sure how they managed the crowd or the launching as we came back near the end.

The lanterns look pretty and the music is nice. I'd go again, but I wouldn't pay this much and I wouldn't buy any of their merch. I'd bring a picnic and our own games to play and come closer to nightfall.

If they are able to get more vendors and more food trucks and could set up some activities for kids, the ticket price would feel more worth it. It's overall such a nice idea.

The festival claims they support a charity that supplies water to needed areas, but there's no info given and no transparency re: a for profit event.

This is some of the most beautiful scenery in the city of Idaho Falls. It is so beautiful that many of the areas top amateur or professional photographers families and models here to take photo's.

The snake river is the center of attention and the star of the show. It is hard to describe the beauty and splendor which is the snake river. The gurgling and babbling water adds to the serenity. It is in the center of some of the most beautiful flora and fauna. There is a bike or walking path with gorgeous friendship gardens. Along the walk there are several historic markers and statues. The Japanese garden near the falls was donated by Idaho Falls sister city in Japan.

Here is where you will see the fireworks every year on the 4th of July. They are some of the most fantastic fireworks. It truly is a must see event.

It seems like many of the hotels as saw the beauty of this area and are placed along this area.

Best morning views on my vacation. Such a peaceful and relaxing place to go for a walk or take pictures.

We were staying at the Best Western in front of the Snake River and Idaho Falls so took advantage of the proximity the morning of the day we were checking out. My husband borrowed the free bikes from BW to explore while I opted to take a stroll over to the temple on the other side which was our room view for the previous 3 nights. A beautiful walk with actually restrooms available and fun seating options along the way. The half to the right after exiting the BW is more scenic than the left so I returned the same way I went out.

Scenic asphalt walkway along the Snake River in downtown Idaho Falls. There are plenty of places to stop and take in the views.

This park is not something you would quite expect in Idaho Falls, since all around is quite high desert like.

The best part is it is free, and it was directly behind my hotel, as well as I had a view from my hotel room. There are many benches to sit and just thinking, watching the mini-falls/streams, watching the animals, enjoying a book or people watching. Several walkers, runners, bicyclists. . I'd highly recommend just going for the walk with your family and having a picnic.

The historical bridge is great for looking down at the Snake River flowing down.

A few additional highlights:
- There is a Japanese garden right near the falls
- On the south side of Broadway there is a pedestrian bridge over the river, and if you keep exploring you will find a little spot with a small bypass of the river, just right for wading in.
- As for the falls, the dam is L-shaped and the long side runs parallel to the river for quite a ways.

My son did a 5-mile run circling the entire greenbelt

My experience was a bit more relaxing!.

It's was pretty but I guess I was expecting more. I'm probably spoiled from living in Orange County Ca where there are plenty of things to do and see. It seemed this was the only happening place around this small town in Idaho.

Nice park alongside the falls, perfect for an afternoon stroll. It was clean and appeared well maintained. They were lots of annoying geese with poop all around but it didn't bother me much. Nice views of the downtown temple.

This is the most beautiful green belt path I have ever been to. Well just check out my photos and you can see for yourself because here a picture is truly worth a 1000 words! The friendship gardens and so lovely and relaxing. A great place to bring your leashed pooch and he will love you for because I know mine did! Truly one of Idaho's best outdoor gems! Seriously guys this is so tranquil it is not to be missed!!

I'm specifically going to be reviewing the Sportsman Park, directly across from the Marriott Residence Inn.

This park is not something you would quite expect in Idaho Falls, since all around is quite high desert-y feel. The historical bridge is beautiful to just stand on looking down at the Snake River flowing down. As you walk into the actual Japanese garden-like park, you'll immediately hear the soothing sound of the streams flowing and trickling. It is very green with lots of shade, and if you're there around dusk, the lighting is gorgeous! I was just walking in circles while enjoying a cigar, relaxing after a long day at work.

The best part is it is free, and it was directly in front my hotel, as well as I had a view from my hotel room. There are many benches to sit and just thinking, watching the mini-falls/streams, watching the animals, enjoying a book and/or cigar. I'd highly recommend just going for the walk with your family and having a picnic.

Lovely little area along the Snake River in downtown Idaho Falls. We were in the final leg of our epic Road Trip of 2010 - on the way home - and my husband had talked me into pushing on to Pocatello to start the next morning that much farther along the road, but I still wanted to stop in Idaho Falls to see the falls. His family had lived here when he was just a baby and spoke highly of the city so I wanted to see what was up. We found easy street parking on River Pkwy and started exploring. There is quite a long walkway along the river, it is paved with plenty of places to stop and take in the views. On the south side of Broadway there is a pedestrian bridge over the river, and if you keep exploring you will find a little spot with a small bypass of the river, just right for wading in. We saw a little bit of graffiti which is why I'm not rating it 5 stars.

As for the falls, we were surprised to see that the dam is L-shaped and the long side runs parallel to the river. It was rather interesting.