Pingxi Lantern Festival

What: Mark­ing the first day of the Lunar New Year, Taiwan’s Pingxi Lantern Fes­ti­val see’s 100,000 burn­ing lanterns released into the night sky, cov­ered in the words, wish­es pic­tures, and prayers of their releasers – as locals and for­eign­ers seek to do their best to bring in a pros­per­ous new year.

Offi­cial­ly last­ing for two weeks, the fes­ti­val also has a spir­i­tu­al ele­ment, as indi­vid­u­als take time to reflect on the good and bad of the last year, re-con­nect with loved ones and cel­e­brate food and cul­ture whilstal­so releas­ing fire­works, before tak­ing their lantern and releas­ing their hopes and dreams for the future into the night sky.

When: The fes­ti­val lasts for 14 days, and you will see lanterns being replaced both before and after the main day of the Pingxi Lantern Fes­ti­val, which is on the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. As the exact date of the full moon varies the fes­ti­val falls on a dif­fer­ent day each year, but expect the releas­ing of lanterns to be held in mid-Feb­ru­ary to ear­ly March.

Where: Although called the Pingxi fes­ti­val, the fes­ti­val takes place in the town of Shifen, in the Pingxi dis­trict in Tai­wan, with the main view­ing place and mass release being in the Shifen Square. If trav­el­ling by any means oth­er than tour group — keep an eye on your intend­ed des­ti­na­tion as there is also a town stop called Pingxi on the Pingxi line in the Pingxi dis­trict, which while a beau­ti­ful area, is not the best place to expe­ri­ence the fes­ti­val. 

Dura­tion: The fes­ti­val lasts for 14 days, and you will see lanterns being replaced both before and after the offi­cial date of the fes­ti­val. On the day itself it is rec­om­mend­ed to reg­is­ter for free to attend the mass release of lanterns in the Shifen Square in the ear­ly morn­ing after 10am and then be in the square for 5pm, with the main release of lanterns occur­ring between 6pm – 8pm every 20 – 30 min­utes.

Tick­ets:  The Pingxi Sky Lantern Fes­ti­val is com­plete­ly free to attend, with the mass ascen­sion at Shifen Square requir­ing you to sign up in the ear­ly morn­ing. For those wish­ing to send their hopes and dreams to the sky, lanterns are avail­able to pur­chase for NT$150–200 and it’s rec­om­mend­ed to bring your own pen and lighter.

Need to Know: Along­side the need to know ele­ment of head­ing to Shifen square rather than the town of Pingxi (a mis­take we made) – make sure to give your­self enough time to get into the square as it does fill up as crowds gath­er to release their lanterns.

More Infor­ma­tion: For the exact date of the fes­ti­val and for advice on how to reach the town of Shifen by pub­lic trans­port vis­it the offi­cial guide to Taipei web­site at: [https://guidetotaipei.com/visit/pingxi]