The Taiwan Lantern Festival – An Experience of a Lifetime

January 10, 2017
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The most celebrated festival of
Taiwan –Lantern Festival will be held from 11 February to 19 February in 2017.
Like Indians, the Taiwanese also celebrate festivals with fervor and
festivities and it’s the best time for family and friends to get together and
celebrate!

The festival is held across
Taiwan in different cities every year like Taipei, Kaohsiung, Pingxi and
Yenshui. The Taipei Lantern Festival is
held for several days at the Taipei Expo Park, reaching its peak on the day of
the Lantern Festival itself. There are many traditional lanterns,
electromechanical lantern displays, and large themed lanterns sponsored and
designed by different companies.
The Kaohsiung Lantern Festival is
held along the Love River. During the festival period, both sides of the river
as well as Wufu Rd., Heping Rd., Guangzhou St., and other thoroughfares have
lantern exhibitions. There are also musical performances, helping to throw the
whole city into a festive mood.
The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival
is one of the most colorful activities of the Lantern Festival. Pingxi is a
remote hillside town. In the past, those who worked or farmed in the mountains
faced the risk of being robbed or killed, and they used lanterns to inform
their families they were safe. The lanterns do not function as signals anymore,
but are now used as symbols of peace and good fortune.
Origin of Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival is an
ancient Chinese tradition that dates back more than 2,000-years. The origin of the festival lies
in the festive activities of an agricultural people celebrating the lengthening
of daylight hours and the coming of spring after the New Year.

The festival was
actually started by an emperor of the Han dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.), who
was a devout Buddhist and who ordered his people to display lights on the
fifteenth night of the first month of the lunar year to pay respects to Buddha.
Holding torches or lanterns on this night makes it easier to see deities
descending from heaven to give blessings to the earth.

During the Tang dynasty (618–907
AD), the emperors would celebrate the festival by ordering hundreds of
beautiful women to sing and dance with lanterns in the brightly lit plaza.
These festive activities gradually spread to the common people and developed
into the most popular festival in the year after Chinese New Year. The festival
is also called the Little New Year.
In 1990, the Taiwan Tourism
Bureau held the first Taipei Lantern Festival. Every year a gigantic lantern is
installed in the middle of the plaza of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The
lantern installation is followed by performances like laser lights, music and
sculptural arts. On the four sides of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall,
smaller lantern installations depict folklore and historical events.
You can
also find interesting live folk performances such as lion and dragon dances,
acrobatic acts, folk art skits, mock battles, and booths that demonstrate and
sell traditional handicrafts such as fan painting, lantern making, dough
sculpture, candy-figure blowing, paper cutting, Chinese knot work, and many
delicious snacks and sweets. During the festival period, a tunnel of lights is
put up on the roads of Taipei, dressing up the whole city with glittering
lights.
Several media outlets and travel
lists have recommended the Taiwan Lantern Festival as one of the best holiday
celebration events. It has emerged as an international event, attracting tens
and thousands of visitors from all over the world.
Visit Taiwan during the Lantern
Festival for a celebration like no other!
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