2013 Taiwan Lantern Festival Events
Date：2013/2/23
Place：Guangming Road & Dahua Bridge
This year, Keelung will expand their celebration for lantern festival. Other that the large-scale fireworks as usual, the other theme of the festival is to showcase the railway culture of Taiwan. A fair will be starting from 8:00 in the morning of 2/23, where visitors may have some fun and food while watching a film about railway. 800 traditional lanterns will be handed out at designated spots in Yongping Community Center and Keelung Railway Park. In the evening, you may enjoy lots of performances, and the highlight will be fireworks show will kickoff at 9 pm. Keelung Government welcomes everyone to join this symbolic Taiwan Lantern Festival celebration.
Date: 2013/2/21~3/3
Place: Fine Art Park Area and Yuanshan Park
2013 Taipei Lantern Festival will be held at the Taipei Expo Park Area and Yuanshan Park for the first time. The Expo Park will be the show’s entrance, and the venue will be decorated with floral artworks. The festival features lanterns of all shapes and sizes. The main theme of the year is snake as the Chinese zodiac animal, and others themes of lanterns are culture, aboriginal totem, myths, and fairy tales. Several special activities will be performed on holidays and weekends, such as musical plays, magic and singing shows, creative shows by flower-painting masters, busking acts, and anima sculpting balloon acts.
Please visit the official web site of 2013 Taipei Lantern Festival for more information.
Date: 2013/2/14. 2/16 & 2/24
Place: Shifen Plaza, Pingxi Junior High School, Jingtong Elementary School
The 15th Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival is once again to be held in Pingxi, New Taipei City. Sky Lanterns, also known as Kongming Lantern is believed as a way to pass on wishes to gods above. Visitors can write their wishes on a sky lantern and release it to the sky in various places in town. Thousands of people travel here to see the superb scene of innumerable sky lanterns rising into the sky. During each night of the festival, you will be amazed by thousands of sky lanterns illuminate the night skies of northern Taiwan.
Date: 2013/2/14~2/24
Place: Taoyuan Guangming Riverside Park & First Riverside Park
2013 Taoyuan Lantern Festival will be hosted in Nankan of Luzhou Town, Taoyuan County. The theme of this year’s event is designed based on the Chinese Zodiac animals of the year- Snake. There will be lantern displays and competitions joined by various schools and organizations. Visitors are not only invited to appreciate the diversity of lanterns and performances, but also to sample all kinds of local specials at the food stalls that will be lined close to the lanterns. Fireworks display will also be showcased at the end to wrap up the event.
Date: 2013/2/24~3/10
Place: Special Rezoned District of HSR Hsinchu Station in Zhubei, Hsinchu County
The Taiwan Lantern Festival is held annually on the 15th day of the first lunar month, marking the grand finale of the Lunar New Year season and is celebrated with such festival. Each year, this major lantern carnival follows a theme based on the Chinese Zodiac animals for the year, and for 2013, as year of the Snake, the main lantern for the festival will be in the form of a snake. Fireworks, lasers, giant lanterns and hand held torches are seen all over the festival to welcome the New Year in a spirit of peace, prosperity and joy.
Please visit the official web site of 2013 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Hsinchu for more information.
Date: 2013/2/2 - 2/26
Place: Taichung Wen-Hsin Forest Park
The Miaoli Bombing the Dancing Dragon is originally celebrated by the Hakka people, which is a historic tradition to suppress the evil and bring in the good. Nowadays, this event is to welcome the spring and receive good luck, as well as to relive tradition and pass down the Hakka culture. On the day of Lantern Festival, the 15th day of January according to Lunar Calendar, several people move the dragon up and down and side-to-side, and spectators will throw fireworks and firecrackers at the dancing dragon to pray for fortune and to ask for blessings.
Date: 2013/2/18-3/3
Place: Taichung Wen-Hsin Forest Park
2013 Taichung Lantern Festival will be hosted in Taichung Wen-Hsin Forest Park. The theme of this year’s event is designed based on the Chinese zodiac animal of the year- Snake. There will be lantern displays and contests joined by various schools, showing the creative imagines of the young generations. On February 18th, the Taichung Government will invite 281 participants who were born in the year of the Snake to light up the main lantern with the Mayor in the opening ceremony.
Date: 2013/2/24
Place: Baoan Temple at Yeliou Port
The unique temple ritual- “harbor cleaning” is held annually at Yeilou Port of New Taipei City during the Lantern Festival. The ritual symbolizes clear off sprirt and evil influences from the sea by deities, as well as to plead for a quietude fishing trip and return home fully loaded. The harbor cleaning ceremony includes divinities pilgrimage cruise around the village, across the sea and pass over fire. In the ritual, the divinities’ statues will be put on the sedan chairs and carried by four men. First, they will cruise outside the port for three rounds, and then they will unload big loads of fish on the wharf, symbolizing a bumper fish for this year. Then the carriers will jump into the sea with the sedan chairs and swim to the other side of the harbor. After they go ashore, “walk across over fire” will be performed with temple sacrificial activities on land.
Date: 2013/2/10 - 3/3
Place: Jiji Plaza
Located in Nantou County, Taiwan, Jiji is a popular destination for its early-20th century Japanese-era railway station, bicycle track, and the annual lantern exhibition held during Chinese New Year. Named one of Taiwan’s top 10 small tourist towns in 2012. Jiji’s Lantern Festival features lanterns representing the culture and nature of Jiji. Also, there are many special and distinctive lanterns exhibited in the main plaza, as well as numerous performances and fireworks at night for you to experience the charm of Taiwan Lantern Festival.
Date: 2013/2/23~2/24
Place: Wu Temple & Yanshui Junior High School
Tainan Yanshui Beehive Firecrackers plays an important role in the festivities of Lantern Festival in southern Taiwan. The name “Beehive” is referred to the bottle rockets launches from a central beehive shaped wooden castles into the crowds, instead of skyward. In the late 1800, a deadly cholera and plague gradually deprived more and more live when the ceremony was arranged the first time to call for help from the Guanyu divinity. Nowadays, the annual Yanshui Beehive Festival becomes a local custom to hoping the diseases can be sent away and to expressing the appreciation to the Guanyu for saving many lives and bringing the peace back to the town. It is truly a thrilling way to bring an end to the New Year’s celebrations.
Place: Lu-Erh-Men Sheng-Mu Temple
Tainan Lu-Erh-Men Sheng-Mu Temple holds several folk activities and ceremonies each year during the Lantern Festival. On that day, the fireworks display will be showcased at the plaza of the temple which lightens the air on the edge of town.
Date: 2013/2/16~2/24
Place: East and west banks of Love River
Kaohsiung Lantern Festival is held at the surrounding areas of Love River, which showcases colorful lanterns of all sizes and shapes. The reflection of the lanterns and the lights decorated on the trees lining the banks reflects on the lapping water of the Love River, increasing its romantic charm. Kaohsiung Lantern Festival is one of the top three lantern carnival in Taiwan as an expression of the theme of love and happiness. The festival integrates the special characteristics of Kaohsiung culture and art, together in bringings the image of Kaohsiung and offers everyone a unique experience of Chinese New Year in the harbor city of Taiwan.
Date：2013/2/2 - 2/28
Place：Hualien City & Jian Township
This year, more than 10,000 big red lanterns and decorations make Hualien City and Jian Town glow at nights of the Chinese New Year period. The lanterns may be seen in the street, in each house, and stores like the old times. Visitor may wander along a lamplight path from Hualien Railway Station to Jian market and immerse in splendid veranda in this mirthful holiday evening. Hualien Government welcomes everyone to join this traditional event and experience the reminiscent Taiwan celebration.
Date: 2013/2/23~2/28
Place: Taiting Tianhou Temple (Matsu Temple), Nanjing Road & within Taitung City
The Lantern Festival in Taitung City has over 60 years of history, held annually by the Matsu Temple and Haishan Temple. The most popular local activity in Taitung during this period is the “Bombarding of Master Handan.” In Taiwan folklore the Mater Han Dan is regarded as a god of wealth who is known of being afraid of the cold, so bombarding fireworks is to keep him warm and in the hope of obtaining his blessing for prosperity in the new coming year. A chosen man will perform in the role of the Master Han Dan who will wear nothing except a pair of red short pants, and hold a bamboo fan to protect his face while standing on a sedan chair, carried around in designated route by four devotees.
Date: 2013/2/22~2/25
Place: Penghu County Government & Local Temples
Penghu Wangui Ceremony is the ceremony of “cigui” (meaning is praying to turtle), expressing the desire for peace and prosperity in the coming year. Turtle has long been regarded one of sacred animals in the Chinese mythology as the turtle shell is often used to practice divination. Nowadays, turtle-shaped dough takes place over real turtle as offerings to their believers. The temple will provides all kinds of turtle-shaped offerings, such as dough turtles, rice turtles, turtle-shaped cake, golden turtles, and jello turtles. After the ceremony, people may bring some turtles home which represents longevity and peace that will be brought to your family.
