The Lantern Festival is one of Taiwan’s tourism highlights and
takes place annually during Chinese New Year. It is consistently
listed in travel guides as a “must see” for international travelers
around the globe. Although there is only a short window of
opportunity to take in the festival, and there are guaranteed to be
crowds, the night sky illuminated with countless floating lanterns
is an enchanting sight that is rarely viewed elsewhere in the
world.
The major lantern festival sponsored by the national government
is referred to as Taiwan Lantern Festival, and takes place in a
different geographical location each year. It therefore requires
some advanced trip planning, which may not work into every
traveler’s schedule. However, the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival
(平溪天燈) is held in the same location (Pingxi, just outside Taipei)
and on similar lunar calendar dates every year, making trip
planning slightly easier. The history of the sky lantern in Pingxi
goes back over a hundred years, as it was used as a method for
sending one’s wishes up to God (or one’s ancestors in heaven).
The festival however, where thousands of lanterns and personal
wishes are released into the sky simultaneously, only began a
couple decades ago. The festival’s majestic beauty and convenient
access from the Taipei metropolis has seen the event rapidly grow
in popularity, and has attracted the attention of major
international media outlets. The festival made it onto National
Geographic’s 10 Best Winter Trips list. The Discovery Channel has
named it the second largest nighttime festival in the world. CNN
Travel named it one of the top things to do in 2013, and Fodor’s
Travel Guides named it one of the 14 festivals a person must see in
their lifetime.
Pinxi is the only place in Taiwan where sky lanterns can be
released legally, as it has been deemed a safe location due to its
location high in the mountains, its significant annual rainfall,
and high humidity level. Festival viewers will be glad to know that
it is also one of the places with the lowest amounts of light
pollution in Taiwan due to the low population density, which means
the lanterns appear all the more beautiful and distinct in the
sky.
The lantern festival is held to celebrate the first full moon of
Chinese New Year, which is the 15th day of the first month in the
lunar calendar (not to be confused with the western calendar), and
is when the main celebrations occur. However, the Pingxi Sky
Lantern Festival events are now held in three slightly different
locations within Pingxi over three dates during the new year’s
period. This is also the last official day of the Chinese New Year
period
To participate in the official sky lantern launching, advance
registration is usually required, but if you are prepared with your
own lantern and a few spots open up towards the end of the
festival, organizers will generally let you sneak into the back and
participate in the official launching. Even if spots do not open
up, you are free to release your own lantern after the official
launching has finished, or from different areas of Pingxi around
the official grounds.
There will be plenty of tents selling lantern kits, so you don’t
need to bring anything to the festival grounds.
The lantern kit will include a paper lantern and gold paper
soaked in kerosene. One must first write their New Year’s wish on
the outside of the lantern (pens provided at the tents selling the
lantern kits) and then carry the lantern to the launching site. To
prepare for launch, first unfold the paper lantern, attache the
kerosene soaked gold paper inside the lantern, then light the four
corners of the gold paper. Hold the lantern down on the ground and
allow it to fill with hot air. Once the lantern is filled full of
hot air, release the lantern and watch your wishes float up towards
the heavens.
