The Taiwan Lantern Festival is held every year on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year (元宵; Yuan Xiao), or Chap Goh Mei as we call it in Singapore.
The festival is a major showcase of Taiwan’s rich cultural heritage and hospitality and is hosted by a different city in Taiwan each year, with capital city Taipei playing hostest with the mostest this year.
This year’s lantern festival is extra special- it is the first large-scale celebratory event open to international visitors since Taiwan fully reopened to tourists in October 2022.
Coming out of a three year global pandemic, the festival is like a huge buoyant party to celebrate Taiwan’s return to normalcy.
Celebrating the theme “Light Up the Future,” the festival will illuminate Taipei until 19 February with hundreds of gigantic lantern displays and pop-ups across various locations, from Taipei’s East District, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, Xinyi Commercial District, to Taipei 101, bathing the whole city in a celebratory and optimistic atmosphere.
The lantern displays are intricately designed and blend elements from traditional Chinese legends, folktales, and cultural motifs with technology.
This year’s showstopper lantern, the 22-meter-tall “Brilliant Light of the Jade Hare,” is located at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. The robot rabbit in a space suit is inspired by Taiwan’s cutting-edge semiconductor industry.
Fun fact: The rabbit’s facial expressions are based on Taiwan Olympic gold medalist weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun, captured using performance capture technology. Be sure to catch the rabbit come alive in a musical light show that will take place every 30 minutes!
See Taipei’s landmarks, buildings and alleyways illuminated in spellbinding colours in the night. It is lovely strolling around Taipei in February given the cool and mild weather.
Photos above courtesy of the Taipei City Government.
Free gifts
In conjunction with the Lantern festival, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau has arranged for free gifts for tourists such as a DIY rabbit lantern and fresh-cut fruits. Find more information on the Taiwan Tourism Bureau website.
Missing this year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival? Look out for next year’s!
If you are unable to visit the Taiwan Lantern Festival this year, you can always look forward to the next one. Heads up that the 2024 Taiwan Lantern Festival will be held in Tainan!
Check out the Taiwan Lantern Festival in previous years:
2023 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taipei
5- 19 February 2023
Official website: https://tw-light.taipei/en
