Visitors to trendy neon-lit party didn't realise the lights would give them a 'sunburn'
A big party held last week in Hong Kong went awry, after visitors complained of sunburn-like symptoms and irritated eyes the next day.
The trendy party, thrown by digital media firm Hypebeast, was held at a pop-up space meant to resemble a kitschy neon-lit nightclub.
The party was thrown to celebrate the launch of a line of clothes featuring Japanese illustrator Hajime Sorayama's work, who's famous for his robot drawings.
In line with that, the decor of the "club" was illuminated with pink and purple neon lights, with a shiny robot placed in the centre.
However, the day after the party, visitors said they woke up with painful eyes, and flaky, tender skin.
One, a DJ named James Acey, told the Hong Kong Free Press that he felt like he had "sand" in his eyes that couldn't be washed away.
Acey noted that he returned to the venue to see what lighting they used, and noted down a Philips fluorescent tube that he later realised from the website, that it emits UV-C radiation, used for disinfecting an area.
Hypebeast said in a later statement that it's investigating what went wrong, but that an initial review shows that the lighting contractor could have installed "non-approved lighting."
Here are more pictures that partygoers posted to Instagram, so you can get an idea of the extent of neon light that flooded the venue.
Hajime Sorayama was at the party:
Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
