Taiwan ​celebrates ​Folkloric Lantern Festival ​under the theme Golden Monkey Offering Peaches​

The annual Lantern Festival, one of the most celebrated festivals of Taiwan, is being held in Taoyuan, for the 24th time, to celebrate the Year of Monkey under the theme "Golden Monkey Offering Peaches". The festival, which began on February 22 with a lantern lighting event at the square in front of the Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Taoyuan Station with a 26-meter-high main lantern modelled after the Monkey King from the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West,” will continue till 6 March.

The Lantern Festival is an ancient Chinese tradition that dates back more than 2,000 years that closes out the Lunar New Year season. Initially it started as a religious observance, but later fireworks and riddle-guessing contests were incorporated into these celebrations over time to make the occasion a gala affair. The lantern, a source of light, is a traditional symbol of the lengthening days of spring. The traditional festival food are glutinous rice dumplings with sweet or savoury stuffings called Tangyuan that comes in many different choices of flavours.

The origin of the festival lies in the festive activities of an agricultural people celebrating the lengthening of daylight hours and the coming of spring after the New Year. Other legends have it that the festival was actually started by an emperor of the Han dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.), who was a devout Buddhist and who ordered his people to display lights on the fifteenth night of the first month of the lunar year to pay respects to Buddha. According to the same legend, holding torches or lanterns on this night makes it easier to see deities descending from heaven to give blessings to the earth. Yet another legend has it that in the Tang dynasty, the emperors would celebrate the festival by ordering hundreds of beautiful women to sing and dance with lanterns in the brightly lit plaza. These festive activities gradually spread to the common people and developed into the most popular festival in the year after Chinese New Year. The festival is also called the Little New Year. In the old days, these festivities, together with the celebrations for the Chinese New Year, would last for as long as 45 days. Nowadays the festivities last for about a week.

There are numerous Lantern Festival celebrations around Taiwan which are regarded as must-gos. In 1990, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau held the first Taipei Lantern Festival, which injected a whole new life into the event. It has become a major tourist event in the country over the years. Thanks to the advancements of modern technology, every year a gigantic lantern installation is erected in the middle of the plaza of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, usually carrying the theme in line with the Chinese horoscope sign of that year. The lantern installation includes performances combining laser lights, music and sculptural arts. On the four sides of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, smaller lantern installations depict folklore and historical events, and large multi-colored lanterns, many in the likeness of different plants and animals such as butterflies, dragons, dinosaurs and birds, are hung up along the road. One can also witness interesting live folk performances such as lion and dragon dances, acrobatic acts, folk art skits, mock battles, and booths that demonstrate and sell traditional handicrafts such as fan painting, lantern making, dough sculpture, candy-figure blowing, paper cutting, Chinese knot work, and many delicious snacks and sweets. During the festival period, a tunnel of lights is put up on the roads of Taipei, dressing up the whole city with glittering lights.

In 2007 the Discovery Channel recommended the Taiwan Lantern Festival as one of the best holiday celebration events. It has emerged as an international event, attracting tens and thousands of visitors from at home and abroad. If you have never considered visiting Taiwan, think again! It is one of the best destinations for the travellers from every corner of the world.

By Jose Kalathil