The 2024 Taiwan Lantern Festival is set to take place on February 24 and the highly anticipated main lantern "Dragon Comes to Taiwan" and accompanying miniature dragon lantern designs were unveiled on Wednesday.
The main lantern, "Dragon Comes to Taiwan," will stand at 22 meters and was designed by artist Peng Li-chen (彭力真). It draws inspiration from the dragons in the stone columns in front of the Tainan Grand Mazu Temple. The miniature dragon lanterns featuring a dragon head were designed by Lin Chia-wei (林佳葦). Lin says the name shares a phonetic resemblance with the renowned Taiwanese snack "Xiaolongbao" or soup dumplings, and the design aims to add joy and entertainment to the Year of the Dragon celebrations.
Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) says that this year marks the 35th Taiwan Lantern Festival and is the first time that the event has been held in Tainan in 16 years. The festival will take place in two zones, the "High-Speed Rail Lantern Area" and “Anping Lantern Area”.
Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) says that Tainan is also celebrating its 400th anniversary since its founding in 1624. Mayor Huang stressed the importance of seizing the 400-year milestone and invites everyone to come to visit Taiwan and, specifically Tainan.