Tainan Travel

March 10 marked the end of the 35th 2024 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Tainan. The Taiwan Lantern Festival lantern, which symbolizes the right to host the event, was passed on by Tainan City Mayor Huang Wei-che to Deputy Mayor Su Jun-bin of Taoyuan City, the next host city, and the official handover process was witnessed by MOTC Deputy Minister Lin Guo-xian. Then the guests counted down with the host and the crowd enjoyed the last performance of the main lantern “Dragon Comes to Taiwan”, marking a successful end to this year’s Festival.

Many people left messages on Mayor Huang Wei-che’s Facebook page expressing that the festival period should be extended, and some said that the successful Lantern Festival evoked a sense of city pride. In his closing remarks, the Mayor announced that the 2024 Taiwan Lantern Festival closed with enthusiastic cheers from the crowd, and the 36-day Festival has accumulated over 15 million visits, setting a new record for the city.

Huang thanked the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), the Tourism Administration of the MOTC, and everyone who took part in this event for accomplishing a dazzling Lantern Festival together. He also thanked the involved Central and City Government partners, private enterprises, guilds and associations, volunteers, volunteer police, volunteer fire brigade, and curatorial staff for creating the best presentation to the public.

“The glory goes to all citizens in Tainan!” Huang Wei-che exclaimed. Tainan City Government also invited volunteer representatives to the closing ceremony tonight at the HSR Lantern Area to show their appreciation for the hard work of over 1,400 volunteers.

The Mayor went on to recap that this year visitors were encouraged to “appreciate the orchids during the day and enjoy the lanterns at night” since this Lantern Festival comprises two major lantern display zones and local lantern displays, and is held simultaneously with the Taiwan International Orchid Show and the World Orchid Show. Furthermore, additional popular international events such as Hololive and Pokémon GO City also generated a synergy of “1 +1 > 2” and stimulated local economic output value.

Commissioned by the Tainan City Government Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission, Chunghwa Telecom (assisted by Focus Survey Research) conducted a study on visitor expenses on accommodation, transportation, food and drink, shopping, and entertainment at the 2024 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Tainan. With an average consumption amount of NTD 1,629, this Taiwan Lantern Festival has generated more than NTD 24 billion of tourism output value for Tainan City.

Many people brought their families and even their furry friends to enjoy the last day of the festival. Ms. Gao from Kaohsiung said that because Tainan is an ancient cultural capital, this Festival is more culturally rich than the ones she visited in the past, and the lanterns also illustrate local history. Ms. Wang, who lives in Tainan, said that when she visited with her family, they were pleasantly surprised that the daytime performances were as amazing as the evening’s lanterns. The traditional folk art procession and drum show was especially impressive.

This Lantern Festival also demonstrated the technological prowess of Taiwan. Some people were surprised that they missed the AR interaction “Gate of the Gods”《眾神之門》when their colleagues shared how cool it was and said they have to visit again. The entire drone air show in the Anping Lantern Display Zone - from the script, storyboard design, and blocking animation generation, to the actual drone design and testing - were all completed by local teams in Tainan. It was a must-see spectacle that lit up Anping’s night sky. The show presented a special fourth part for the closing ceremony tonight: the drones formed the Mandarin Chinese characters saying “Thank you for being a part of Glorious Tainan”, presenting a perfect ending for the Lantern Festival.

The Tainan City Government expressed that at this year’s Lantern Festival, not only did the locals learn more about Tainan and Taiwan’s history but foreign visitors also experienced Taiwan’s vibrant culture. Many guests were sad to see the lanterns dimmed and took a lot of photos to keep the wonderful memories of this Taiwan Lantern Festival.