So hot—but no fear of the cold for Christmas joy as 120,000 light up the night in high spirits

▲120,000 people gathered in New Taipei City to light up Christmas. (Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Tourism Bureau)

Reported by You T-Ru / Taipei

With Christmas approaching, New Taipei City’s “Dream&Love Christmas Street Festival” made a dazzling debut yesterday (23rd) afternoon, combining a street parade, a Christmas evening party, and tonight’s (24th) Christmas Eve charity gala. The tallest full-color LED Christmas tree in Taiwan also debuted as expected, putting on a spectacular 3-minute-and-50-second light show that captured everyone’s attention in the square.


▲The spectacular 3-minute-and-50-second light show drew all eyes in the square. (Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Tourism Bureau)


▲New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu, President Ma Ying-jeou, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, city councilors, legislators, celebrities, and others took part in the tree-lighting ceremony. (Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Tourism Bureau)

New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu, President Ma Ying-jeou, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, city councilors, legislators, celebrities, and 120,000 attendees gathered at the New Taipei Christmas Concert to light up the Star of Hope at the top of the Christmas tree and make wishes together.

The street parade included the Municipal Mounted Police Unit, the Handsome Firefighters Unit, the New Taipei City Indigenous Culture and Arts Troupe, Xizhou Elementary School’s figure skating team, Beixin Elementary School’s Latin dance team, Xiude Elementary School’s rhythmic gymnastics team, Baiyun Elementary School’s samba drum team, and a total of 34 teams. They set off from the intersection of Zhongshan Road and Chongqing Road in Fuzhong Commercial Circle and marched to New Taipei City Hall. Each team showed creative costumes and energetic performances, attracting crowds of onlookers to take photos and enjoy the show.

 
▲Wang Xinling and Yang Chenglin also showed up to celebrate Christmas. (Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Tourism Bureau)


▲S.H.E performed with high energy. (Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Tourism Bureau)

As night fell, the lights decorating the streets around City Hall sparkled, complementing the Christmas tree and filling the air with a warm, festive Christmas vibe. The New Taipei Christmas Concert continued the joy of the previous night, featuring big-name stars such as Jolin Tsai, Stefanie Sun, Show Lo, Jam Hsiao, Nick Chou, Alien Huang, S.H.E, and Yang Chenglin, who took turns performing energetically.

Tens of thousands of attendees braved the cold front, clapping热烈ly and singing along loudly. In addition to the Civic Plaza, the sealed-off second venue on Xinzhan Road was packed with people who watched the performances on the big screen. The atmosphere reached a fever pitch.