For the first time in history！The 2015 Taiwan Lantern Festival returns to Taichung for the same zodiac animal

▲ The goat-shaped main lantern at the 2003 Taiwan Lantern Festival. (Photo／Screenshot fromTaichung City Governmentofficial website)

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

A first in Lantern Festival history！After a 12-year hiatus, the 2015 Taiwan Lantern Festival will once again be held in Taichung. Not only will Taichung host the Lantern Festival for the second consecutive year during the Year of the Goat, but this also marks the first time in the festival’s history that the same city has hosted the event for the same zodiac sign two years in a row. It is planned to feature a "three-lantern zones and two main lanterns" format, allowing the 2003 goat-shaped main lantern to reunite with a brand-new main lantern for the public.

Zhang Dachun, Director of the Taichung City Government Tourism and Travel Bureau, pointed out that the 2015 Taiwan Lantern Festival is scheduled to take place from February 27 to March 15 next year, with the official lighting ceremony on March 5 (Lantern Festival Day), lasting 17 days. The main lantern area will be located in the Wuri High-Speed Rail Special Zone.

The three main lantern areas will be in the Wuri High-Speed Rail Special Zone, Fengyuan, and Taichung Park — where the 2003 main lantern currently resides. The 12-year-old goat-shaped main lantern is still standing in Taichung Park, standing 20 meters tall and weighing 10 metric tons. It cost tens of millions of New Taiwan dollars to build at the time. With the Lantern Festival returning to Taichung next year, the goat-shaped main lantern has once again drawn attention.