"Mommy, my Pleasant Goat is flying!" The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival kicks off on the 22nd

▲ The first Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival event kicked off on February 22. (Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Tourism and Travel Bureau)

Reported by Chen Rui-zhong / Comprehensive Report

The first event of the 2015 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival took place on the 22nd at JingTong Elementary School in Pingxi District. Themed "Joyful New Taipei, Welcoming the Year of the Sheep," the event featured cartoon characters from the Pleasant Goat family on 8TN whimsical sky lanterns, along with 60 4TN sky lanterns, attracting many parents to bring their children.

This year's Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival incorporates cartoon designs, allowing both children and adults to immerse themselves in a playful atmosphere. Additionally, Mie Prefecture in Japan, a friendly city of New Taipei City, participated enthusiastically, inviting Mie residents to cross the sea and release sky lanterns for the first time. The event also featured performances by Japanese girl group NYLAS, folk singer Xu Qianshun, and others.

▲ A whimsical sky lantern themed around Pleasant Goat.

The New Taipei City Government stated that the second event of the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival will be held on February 27th at Pingxi Junior High School, where a 12TN large hot-air balloon sky lantern combining tourism features of New Taipei City and Taitung County will be released. The third event will take place on March 5th, the Lantern Festival, at Shifen Square, featuring paper-cutting sky lanterns that blend the traditional arts of paper-cutting and sky lanterns. Both events will offer 1,600 and 1,400 4TN traditional sky lanterns, respectively, for free public participation.