Spring Outing Lantern Festival & Flower Sea: A Handy Guide to Events Across Taiwan

By MOOK Scenic Spots Home Travel Life Network Editorial Department
 
The new year has just begun, and exciting events are being held across Taiwan, kicking off the year in the most beautiful way for travelers. Whether it’s lantern festival events prepared for the Lantern Festival or stunning flower sea views, they all give us great reasons to head out for outings and gatherings. Below is a compiled guide to Lantern Festival events and spring flower viewing spots across Taiwan. With consecutive holidays approaching, spend your days wandering through flower seas and your evenings soaking up the lively and adorable lantern festivals to welcome a wonderful new year.

Lantern Festivals
● Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival
The 2016 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival kicks off with a bang on February 11, 14, and 22. This year breaks from past visual designs — the main visual invites an illustrator to create in a purely hand-drawn style, specially paired with fingerprint painting to evoke the warm, joyful imagery of sky lanterns. The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival has always been a major event of Taiwan’s Lantern Festival, and has recently been selected by National Geographic as one of the “Top 10 Winter Travel Destinations Worldwide,” and also rated by the renowned American travel channel Discovery as the “World’s Second Largest Festival Carnival.”
Event Dates: February 11, 14, 22
Event Locations: Jing Tong Elementary School, Pingxi Junior High School, Shiding Square

● Taipei Lantern Festival
The 2016 Taipei Lantern Festival is held from February 20 to 29. The most eye-catching main lantern features an unprecedented irregular arc-shaped light sculpture called the “Fortune Monkey,” created by internationally renowned multimedia art master Mr. Shu-Min Lin. It also combines resources from Taipei’s 12 administrative districts to create 12 distinctive lantern zones, transforming the entire city into a lantern wonderland.
Event Dates: February 20 – 29
Event Location: Taipei Expo Yuanshan Park

● Taoyuan Taiwan Lantern Festival
The 2016 Taiwan Lantern Festival takes place in Taoyuan, running from February 22 to March 6 at the THSR Qingpu Station area. The lantern festival exhibition is divided into six major lantern zones and features a 26-meter-tall main lantern of the Monkey King made with LED lights. For the first time, the festival also introduces a large creative lantern set primarily made of glass titled “Universe Tower,” standing 11 meters tall and covering 160 pyeong. Every half hour, there is a 4-minute rotating light show, making it one of the highlights of the Taiwan Lantern Festival.
Event Dates: February 22 – March 6
Event Location: Areas around Taoyuan THSR Qingpu Station

● Central Taiwan Lantern Festival
The 2016 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival shines from February 17 to 29 in three locations: Taichung Park, Qingshui Port Art Center, and Fengyuan Huludun Park, launching a 13-day lantern art feast. The theme “Play in Taichung” collaborates with the international brand Paul Frank, and the lantern zones in all three locations will simultaneously create beautiful lantern seas to showcase Taichung’s youthful and lively city image.
Event Dates: February 17 – 29
Event Locations: Taichung Park, Qingshui Port Art Center, Fengyuan Huludun Park
● Nantou Lantern Festival
The Nantou Lantern Festival runs from February 6 to 29 in Nantou County’s Jiji Town, inviting the 13 township/city farmers' associations of Nantou to focus on their characteristic products such as rice, alcohol, and plums. Through creative ideas, they highlight the vitality of each township/city and make the lantern festival more appealing. To match the Year of the Monkey theme, the festival also features a main lantern named “Monkey Luck in Nantou,” along with 11 other lantern zones including Monkey Welcoming Ceremony, Light Avenue, Glory Sky, and Lantern Art Town. Additionally, three stations — Jiji, Zhuoshui, and Checheng — are also decorated with lanterns for everyone to enjoy.
Event Dates: February 6 – 29
Event Locations: Jiji Town Holiday Plaza and Jiji, Zhuoshui, Checheng Stations in Nantou County
Main Lantern Location: Wuchang Temple in Jiji
● Chiayi New Year's Eve Light Festival
To celebrate the opening of the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum, the Chiayi County Government launched the 66-day “Palace Museum Welcomes Ka, Ka Art Lights Delight” light festival on December 19, 2015. The event was divided into two main parts: the “Light Display Area” and the “Performance Activities.” The light display area featured installations along the front of the Chiayi County Government and along the 1-kilometer-long Prince Avenue, comprising eight major themed light zones. These mainly highlighted Chiayi’s local specialties and cultural landscapes, incorporating elements of Asian art and culture to showcase modern art and environmental sustainability. Zones included the Bell Tower Light Zone, the 3D Light Sculpture Area at the County Government, the Joyful Light Zone, the Agricultural Light Zone, the Themed Story Light Zone, the Religious Light Zone, and others.
Event period: December 19, 2015 – February 22, 2016
Event location: In front of Chiayi County Government, Prince Avenue, and surrounding areas of the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum