Lanterns and light installations have popped up around Taiwan ahead of the upcoming Lantern Festival, which falls on Feb. 5 this year.
The Lantern Festival, which is celebrated on the 15th day of the 1st month of the Lunar New Year, which began on Jan. 22, traditionally marks the end of the New Year holiday.
The country's main celebration, the Taiwan Lantern Festival organized by the Tourism Bureau, will return to Taipei for the first time in 23 years, since the annual event around the country was renamed from the original Taipei Lantern Festival used from 1990 to 2000.
Taipei has set up several light installations in phases since mid-January as warmup events ahead of the official opening of the festival on Feb. 5.
Most recently, the theme of this year's Taiwan Lantern Festival "Light up the Future" has been projected onto Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 skyscraper as part of nightly light shows from Wednesday, with more displays of lanterns and a maze made of LED panels unveiled the previous day.
On Sunday, a street parade of over 500 performers will take place around city hall from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., followed by more performances at four locations around city hall into the evening.
The festival will be officially launched when the main display for the Year of the Rabbit, a 22-meter-tall robot exhibition titled "Brilliant Light of the Jade Hare" is turned on at the Central Display Zone around National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall at 4:59 p.m., according to the organizers.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel