An event advertised as the “UK’s biggest Lego festival” has been called a “complete rip-off” by attendees who described it as a half-empty room with piles of bricks.
Brick Fest Live, which took place at the NEC in Birmingham over the bank holiday weekend, was promoted by organisers as “the world’s largest hands-on Lego event” with more than a million bricks on display.
It promised that “children and adults will be amazed by lifesize Lego models”, and visitors would be able to visit a “marketplace where avid builders will be able to find rare collectibles not available anywhere else”.
But images of the event showed large open spaces in a hall containing one gift shop, an inflatable slide, a colouring-in area and tables with piles of Lego bricks.
There were also some large Lego builds, including a throne and some Pokémon characters, and an area where people could contribute a Lego build to a large mosaic.
Visitors described the event as “rubbish” and compared it to the Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow, which was supposed to be an “immersive experience” but left children in tears when they arrived at a sparsely decorated warehouse with plastic props.
One mother who attended Brick Fest Live told BirminghamLive: “It’s as bad as that Willy Wonka experience in Scotland, hardly anything there, both of my kids were so disappointed. I heard some people making official complaints.
“We thought it would be a nice treat for the half-term, we all left so disappointed. It was terrible.”
After previously running in Milton Keynes and Edinburgh, Brick Fest Live was at the Birmingham NEC from 25-27 May, with tickets starting from £20.
One couple, who are Lego creators and run a YouTube channel called Block Party, said they paid £40 each for VIP tickets for the event. Kevin Chapman said in a video called “Brick Fest Live at NEC Birmingham: Complete Rip-Off!” on their channel: “I can’t believe we’ve spent £80 to be here for this. We’ve been to bigger ones in primary school sports halls.”
He added: “How they can call it the largest one in the UK – are they defining that on the fact it’s the biggest room? Even though it’s basically empty. This is genuinely a con. I just want to protect other people from wasting their money and coming here.”
He criticised the event for featuring no independent traders or Lego builds, and said it felt like it was mainly geared towards children even though it was advertised as being for “children and adults”.
“A quarter of the room is just empty tables and piles of bulk Lego,” he said. “They can’t call themselves the UK’s biggest brick festival because there’s nothing here. This is rubbish.”
One comment under his video read: “Drove from Sheffield with my 10-year-old who was so excited to see rare Lego, custom mini-figs etc. Could’ve cried for him when we had walked around the whole thing and he asked but where the Lego stalls.
“Hopefully we all get refunds because they shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this blatant false advertising.”
The event organisers, who have no connection with Lego Group, said in a statement: “In the last month, there have been tens of thousands of guests that have been through this event in Edinburgh and Milton Keynes, with children and families taking part in this interactive, hands-on festival.
“Where many have given us positive feedback, we are aware that Brick Fest Live is potentially not delivering for adult-level enthusiasts. We’re reading all customer feedback and dealing with comments.”
The NEC has been contacted for comment.