Written/Compiled and Reported by Wei Ruyu
The “2012 New Taipei City Pingxi International Sky Lantern Festival” will begin at 6:00 PM on January 26 (the fourth day of the Lunar New Year) at Jing Tong Elementary School. The first event is an anime-themed carnival, featuring performances by COSPLAY groups, inviting anime fans to release sky lanterns together; the 12TN main lantern has been specially designed and painted in a cute Q-style illustration by comic artist Uncle Halley.
The “2012 New Taipei City Pingxi International Sky Lantern Festival” will allow the public to release the 20TN super-sized “Presidential-level sky lantern” for the first time. (Photo provided by New Taipei City Government Tourism Bureau)
This event will feature a total of four sky lantern blessing evenings. In addition to the first event, there will be another on January 28 (Saturday, the sixth day of the Lunar New Year) at Pingxi Junior High School, with performances by celebrities including Tofu Pudding Girl Cai Huangru; on February 4 (Saturday, the thirteenth day of the first lunar month) and February 6 (Monday, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month / Lantern Festival), events will be held at Shifen Sky Lantern Square. On February 4, the public will be allowed to release the 20TN super-large sky lantern for the first time, while the final event on February 6 will feature, for the first time, a ceremony where a thousand sky lanterns are released simultaneously. Each stage event will include a lantern riddle guessing game, with a chance to win limited-edition LED sky lantern badges. A total of 5,800 sky lanterns will be available for free release by the public throughout the event, along with over 2,500 exclusive and limited-edition wooden sky lantern talismans to be given to attendees.
To coincide with the “2012 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival,” the “New Taipei Travelers” Facebook fan page is also offering great giveaways. By visiting the fan page and participating in the Wish Sky Lantern activity—sharing your new hopes for 2012—you could win an HTC SENSATION XE smartphone or a limited-edition sky lantern commemorative gift.
For details about the event, traffic control, and shuttle bus services, please visit the official website of the 2012 Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival: tour.tpc.gov.tw/2012skylantern