Glasgow Wonka Experience: Fans turn out and pay £35 a ticket for Los Angeles recreation of failed Glasgow event

Scottish Oompa Loompa actress Kirsty Paterson made a guest appearance at the event

A recreation of Glasgow's Wonka Experience in Los Angeles – complete with a Q&A from the Scottish actor who became known as the sad-looking Oompa Loompa at the original event – attracted dozens of people in the style of its inspiration.

Willy’s Chocolate Experience LA, a one-night-only pop up event, recreated the decor of its Glasgow original, complete with artificial intelligence-generated art and a warehouse decorated with just a few candy cane props. Attendees, who paid $44 (£35) a ticket, were even offered two complimentary jellybeans.

Fans said they had bought tickets specifically to see Kirsty Paterson, who shot to fame after the publication of photographs of her dressed as one of the iconic workers in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

A Willy Wonka inspired mural appeared in Glasgow last month, based on the House of Illuminati failed event.

The original £35-a-head Willy Wonka-themed event at the Box Hub Warehouse in Glasgow, run by the House of Illuminati, made international headlines when images of an almost-empty warehouse, devoid of entertainment, decoration or chocolate goodies, were shared on social media.

The event has previously inspired other spin-offs, including a club night in New York.

Ms Paterson, who played an Oompa Loompa at the Glasgow event, said she had been inundated with requests for appearances. In LA, she hosted performances by two chocolate-covered Oompa Loompas and posed for photos with her fans.

“The opportunities I’m getting from this are life-changing outside Oompa Loompa and the costume,” Ms Paterson told US media. “I mean, I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.”

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Jacob Alpharad, 28, was among the attendees who said they had bought tickets specifically to see Ms Paterson.

“I don’t think there’s any celebrity I could meet that would impress my friends more than her specifically,” Mr Alpharad said. “I was just happy to be born at the same time as [the Glasgow event]. It sounds like a skit right out of a sitcom.”

However, in true Glasgow Wonka Experience style, the event suffered its own problems. A scheduled “Shrek Rave”, which was due to take place after the main event, from 9pm, was cancelled, after organisers said the performer behind the rave had pulled out “due to negative press”.

"In other words, the dupe of the Willy Wonka dupe is falling apart as well,” said Gizmodo journalist Max Zeff.