Kaohsiung’s “Waterfront Lantern Festival” Welcomes the Year of the Rooster  –  Brilliant Lights Illuminate the Love River

▲ The 2016 Kaohsiung Lantern Festival was stunning. (Photo / Provided by Kaohsiung City Government Tourism Bureau)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

As the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, the annual Love River Waterfront Lantern Festival in Kaohsiung has become a long-standing tradition to celebrate the Spring Festival, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. The 2017 Kaohsiung Lantern Festival Art Festival will feature lantern displays themed “Happy Rooster Stands Tall,” with riverside fireworks and light sculptures illuminating the shimmering water.

The Kaohsiung Lantern Festival Art Festival has been held since 2001, lighting up the banks of the Love River for 15 years. This year’s event creates the beautiful imagery of “Falling in Love with a River,” covering the river surface and both banks from Kaohsiung Bridge to Qixian Bridge. The section between Zhongzheng Bridge and Qixian Bridge will serve as the competition area for this year’s lantern display contest.

▲ Brilliant lights and fireworks illuminate the harbor city’s riverbanks. (Photo / Provided by Kaohsiung City Government Tourism Bureau)

Utilizing the unique water features of the Love River, the festival plans landscape-style lantern installations, with up to 10 locations expected to be decorated. Spanning 14 days starting from the third day of the Lunar New Year, the festivities will continue through the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival, brightening up the entire harbor city. In addition to the Love River area, three mountain lantern zones—Qishan, Gangshan, and Fo Guang Shan—will also be illuminated, ensuring that Kaohsiung sparkles throughout the Spring Festival, giving both domestic and international visitors a rich festive atmosphere.

Lantern Festival Period: 2017/1/30 (Third Day of the Lunar New Year) ~ 2/12 (Sixteenth Day of the Lunar New Year)