The Twin Cities’ Lantern Festival Grand Ceremony Lights Up Tonight – Don’t Miss the Live Stream

▲The New Taipei Sky Lantern Festival kicks off in grand style tonight in Pingxi. (Photo / Provided by the New Taipei City Government Tourism and Travel Bureau)

Reported by Yu Jiayun / Comprehensive Report

Today (the 11th) is the Lantern Festival. Although the weather outside is a bit chilly, it adds even more atmosphere to this annual celebration. Aside from remembering to eat tangyuan (sweet rice balls), two major Lantern Festival events in the Taipei and New Taipei areas are set to kick off this evening. The “West Side Carnival Parade” of the Taipei Lantern Festival will take over the streets of Ximending, with a variety of colorful and adorable floats making lively appearances to celebrate with the public. Meanwhile, the highlight of New Taipei City’s festivities, the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival, will launch its first batch of sky lanterns at 6 PM, ushering in an entire night of exciting performances.

▲The West Side Carnival Parade takes place tonight. (Photo / Provided by the Taipei City Government Department of Information and Tourism)

The opening event drew massive crowds that packed Ximending for the Taipei Lantern Festival. In addition to the eye-catching main lantern featuring the energetic Little Qi Chicken, the highly anticipated West Side Carnival Parade, set to begin at 6 PM tonight, is the main attraction. The parade, stretching 700 meters long, involves over 1,600 performers and technical staff, and will be preceded by a warm-up lap around the city by 50 Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Among the highlights is the West Side Story float, which is 17 meters long, the Solar Prominence Chicken float standing at 8.5 meters tall, and the Lin Mo Niang float featuring performances by anime groups. There will also be performances by Taipei’s student marching bands, cheerleading squads, military bands, street dance groups, indie bands, and folk performance troupes—promising an unforgettable spectacle.

▲Scenes from previous Sky Lantern Festivals. (Photo / Provided by the New Taipei City Government Tourism and Travel Bureau)

The New Taipei Pingxi area, which attracts large numbers of visitors every year and has even been ranked among the top 10 most popular destinations for independent travelers visiting Taiwan, is known not only for its historic street and waterfall attractions but also for its world-famous sky lantern releases. This year’s Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival features a large main lantern symbolizing Taiwan-Japan cultural exchange, known as the 20TN lantern. In addition to eight waves of sky lantern releases, the festival also invites Song Kun Traditional Arts to showcase captivating traditional performances and features singer Lin Hsin-yi live on stage to liven up the atmosphere.

To allow fans who can’t attend in person to experience the excitement closer to home, ETtoday News Cloud will also providelive broadcasts on Boba (播吧),News Cloud,Travel Cloud,on their homepage andETtoday News Cloud’s official Facebook page,as well asETtoday Travel Cloud’s official Facebook pageforlive coverage of the events.Live broadcast on site.

Taipei Lantern Festival West Side Carnival Parade Info
Time: February 11, 6:00 PM
Location: The parade will assemble at Fuxing Elementary School on Section 1, Zhonghua Road, then depart from the Wuchang Street intersection, traveling along Chengdu Road and Kangding Road
Transportation: Due to extensive traffic control and road closures on the day, participants are strongly advised to use public transportation.

2017 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival
Event Date: Saturday, February 11, 2017 (Lantern Festival)
Event Time: 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Event Location: Shifen Square, Pingxi District, New Taipei City (No. 136 Nanshanping, Pingxi District, New Taipei City)