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Taiwan Lantern Festival

March 5, 2009 / By NomadicMatt

Taiwan lantern festival
“Where are the lanterns?” I asked.

“These are the lanterns,” my friend said, pointing at the lit-up parade floats that littered the park.

“Huh? These are parade floats.”

“No, they are lanterns.”

Clearly, he and I had different opinions as to what lanterns are. Or maybe it was my cultural expectation that differed. In Thailand, they have Loy Kratong—a lantern festival that’s sort of like Thailand’s version of Valentine’s Day. Moreover, every month during the full moon, people light paper lanterns and watch them float off into the sky. It’s a sign of good luck. To me a lantern is something similar, and that’s what I expected when I went to the Taipei Lantern Festival a few weeks ago.

I figured there would be people lighting lanterns off into the sky as a sign of good luck and fortune. Instead I got parade floats. (Though they were still cool.)

The Taipei Lantern Festival is an annual tradition that commemorates the first lunar month of the new Chinese year, and since it’s the year of the ox, all the lanterns were of oxen. You had oxen farming, dancing, singing, getting married, and even heading to Macao. Wandering around the grounds, it was interesting to see the floats. Some were commissioned by businesses, and others were done by schools or private individuals, but all were fun to look at.

There were a lot of interesting floats, from farm scenes to a panda wedding. Take a look for yourself:
Taipei Lantern Festival
Taipei Lantern Festival
Taipei Lantern Festival
Taipei Lantern Festival
Taipei Lantern Festival

You can catch the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taipei right after the Chinese New Year. The lanterns are usually up for a few weeks.

For more ideas on what to do in Taiwan, check out these posts:

  • How to Spend Your Time in Taiwan
  • What to Do in Taipei
  • See One of the Most Impressive Buildings in the World

Photo credits: 1-4, 5

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  1. Christina

    March 5, 2009 at 2:46 pm

    And in Japan, they have Toro nagashi, where they float lanterns down a river for those who have passed away.

  2. Gillian

    March 5, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    Though different from what you were expecting, these ‘lanterns’ are amazing!! What a lot of work they must have been to make. Here, in Victoria, we have a yearly ‘Luminara’ festival that is modeled after a festival like this. It transforms a nearby park into a magical, unrecognizable wonderland – I love it!!

  3. jen laceda

    March 5, 2009 at 5:09 pm

    In Toronto, we have the Chinese Lantern Festival which runs from July to October. They have the most amazing lanterns on display there (not on floats, though).

  4. Erica

    March 5, 2009 at 11:30 pm

    I have never seen these big lanterns before. I like the last picture with the pandas. Cute!

  5. Benedict

    March 6, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    Awesome pictures! Looks Amazing!

  6. nicoleantoinette

    March 6, 2009 at 7:25 pm

    Wow, those are GIANT lanterns! Not at all what I’d expect from the name of the event, but gorgeous just the same.

  7. Lola

    March 7, 2009 at 11:25 am

    Very cool pictures. I’d never heard of this before.

  8. Monna

    March 7, 2009 at 8:56 am

    These lanterns (large though they may be) are amazing, Matt! I am looking forward to seeing the lanterns in Thailand when we move there… in just five months!

  9. lakshmi

    March 8, 2009 at 7:41 am

    very colourful..Ive filmed the singapore lantern festival a few years ago..looks quite similar I must say

  10. Evan

    March 23, 2010 at 11:35 am

    These Look really good, I imagine they take ages to make.

  11. NomadicMatt

    April 8, 2017 at 12:51 pm

    Hey everyone! Due to the age of this post and the difficulty in moderating lots of posts spam, comments here have been turned off. If you would like to continue the discussion, head over to the forums at http://forums.nomadicmatt.com and chat there! I post frequently and reply to threads on the boards! See ya there! Thanks! – Matt

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