The best annual events in Taiwan
Taiwan has a very strong culture and this means special events you can only experience in Taiwan! The annual events in Taiwan have a lot of influence from Chinese culture and religion, but there are also some special events because of the indigenous people of Taiwan. If you’re interested to get to know more about these special events and when they find place, you came to the right place. In this article we will be going over some of the best annual events in Taiwan!
Pingxi sky lantern festival
The Pingxi sky lantern festival is one of the most famous annual events in Taiwan and not without a reason. At this festival you will get to see how thousands of beautiful lit lanterns will fill up the sky between the mountains of Taiwan. Every year thousands of people attend at this festival and not only from Taiwan. The reason for the lanterns to be send into the sky is to send messages to the gods.
The festival is located in Shifen, a small old coalmining town in the Pingxi district in Taipei and is a must see when you’re around. The festival starts the 8th of february and people send the lanterns into the sky for 2 more weeks after the 8th.
Jinshan sulphuric fire fishing festival
Every year during the typhoon season in Taiwan you can come to Jinshan harbor and witness the dying art of fire fishing. This more then a century old style and tradition of fishing came to life because of Jinshan abundance of sulphur. Now every year the old fishermen and the fishermen that took over the tradition show in a festival the art of fire fishing with sulphur. With sulphur they light a torch of bamboo that gives a light so bright it attracts dozens of sardines.
This is a perfect event for photographers because this is something you don’t get to see everyday!
Usually the festival runs from may to july, and there are some other activities to do but the main activity are boattours around the fishermen to experience it from up close.
Taiwan international balloon festival
This relatively new festival in Taitung county on the Luye plateau and has been promoting the tourism from this region. Balloons from everywhere in the world gather here and you can come here to watch them in all different colors and shapes and even have a ride in one of the balloons. And let’s be honest Taiwan is the place for a balloon ride. The festival in 2020 is from the 27th of june until the 16th of august.
Song Jhiang-Jhen battle array festival
In Neimen in Kaohsiung is a very unique festival, the Song Jhiang-Jhen array festival. In this area was a group of bandits with a leader named Jhiang-jheng. This group of bandites had a very unique way of training what brought them in amazing shape, after this the military started to use this method too. Since then has this method kept preserved from generation to generation.
To honour the soldiers and Jhiang-Jheng they organise a big festival with big battle parades and soldiers dressed up in a traditional way. There are also martial arts competitions during this festival that are even broadcasted on Taiwanese television!
The date of this festival in 2020 will be held from 20/02 until 08/03.
Some more mentionable annual events :
- Mazu international festival
- Yunlin international puppet art festival
- Yanshui beehive firework art festival
- Fulong sand sculpting festival
