This year marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Tainan and the 2024 Taiwan Lantern Festival returns to the city after 16 years.
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With the dragon illuminated and accompanied by grand music,
this year’s main lantern radiates majestic charm as its entire length sparks with golden light. The lantern is 22 meters high, which is around 7 stories tall, and is named “The Dragon Comes to Taiwan”. It is entering its final testing phase, but one can already sense the extraordinary presence of the dragon.
The "High-Speed Rail Lantern Area" for this year’s lantern festival encompasses a vast 42-hectare area. Apart from the main lantern, there are nearly 300 exhibits, including one particularly eye-catching large-scale installation made from numerous wooden rods.
The creative team behind it describes the concept as a combination of raw materials and light strips, its elliptical shape resembling an eye gazing towards the sky, a tribute to ancestors and farmers.
A short walk away, visitors will encounter lantern installations
shaped like trains. This exhibit displays Taiwan's railway culture and traditional lantern artistry, from the Taiwan Railway to the Alishan Forest Railway and the High-Speed Rail. This immersive theme lantern area is a delight for all.
Further along, the lantern installation features the image of Mazu, the goddess of the sea. Beside her are the guardians with keen sight and hearing, she offers protection and blessings for the coming year.
Moving to the other major district, the "Anping Lantern Area" which opened on February 3, crowds of lantern admirers gather around the statue of Mazu, or as she was known before, Lin Mo-niang (林默娘), a local heroine, surrounded by 30 artistic lantern installations.
The main dragon lantern will be switched on this Saturday with a light show happening every 30 minutes, officially opening the High-Speed Rail Lantern Area. The festival is set to continue through the evening of March 10.
Fil Leskovsky