Winterfest, the much hyped holiday extravaganza and holiday market launched in the parking lot of the Brooklyn Museum, has come under scrutiny in recent weeks. What was supposed to be an over-the-top experience and Brooklyn’s answer to Bryant Park’s annual holiday village has both vendors and customers angry.

Attendees were left disappointed that even after numerous complaints to Winterfest organizers and the Brooklyn Museum — who clarified that they were not involved in organizing the event — were promised refunds but have yet to receive their money back. WinterFest spokesperson Jennifer Crosby told Gothamist that “refunds have been issued to all visitors who previously paid for attractions but couldn’t access them.” Attendees say this has yet to occur.

“I emailed them 5 times and nothing,” OurBKSocial Instagram follower @MzWonderland1288 told us. “Called the museum and they were no help. I am beyond disgusted.”

Attendees are not the only ones upset, vendors have gone as far as claiming the entire event is a scam. “This wasn’t just disorganized, I think they had every intention of scamming everyone,” Canvas-bag maker Pamela Barsky told Brooklyn Daily. “It was like kindergartners trying to setup a show.”

Barsky claims to have paid more $6,000 for a booth in which organizer Lena Romanova agreed to refund, but quickly reneged.

Accord to the NY Post, this is not the first time one of Romanova’s events has been accused of being lackluster. Romanova’s company Boston Winter Village Inc., ran into trouble in Boston where it operated a similar holiday market for the Boston Garden Development Group, which later sued it for breach of contract.
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“We sincerely regret hiring (Romanova’s company) as our subcontractor, as over time it became quite clear that the company was unable to deliver a market to the standards that the City of Boston deserves,” Amy Latimer, president of BGD, said in a letter obtained by the Post.

The Brooklyn DA’s office has now stepped in and opened an investigation into Winterfest organizers after a vendor’s complaint. “We’re reviewing the complaint,” said Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.

“The market’s organizers have temporarily licensed the use of a portion of our parking lot for the purpose of presenting a 5-week holiday market,” the Brooklyn Museum explained in a statement. “We had every hope and expectation that Winterfest would be a fun and successful event for the community, local businesses, and families during the holiday season. We are extremely disappointed that the organizers have failed to live up to their promises and we have conveyed our concerns to them. Specifically, we have demanded that they make immediate changes to the overall look and feel of the event, and we have demanded that they stop selling tickets and make all attractions free of charge. We have also asked that they provide refunds to frustrated visitors who have already purchased tickets.”

In the wake of Brooklyn Museum’s “demands”, attractions are now free and instead of being open 7 days a week, the event will be open to everyone on Thursday and Friday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.