Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

Tradition has it that the "sky lantern" was invented during the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-265) by Zhuge Liang. At first it was used to transmit military information, different from beacon towers yet ingeniously serving the same function, and is now generally recognized as the earliest ancestor to the hot air balloon. In the early 19th century the Lantern Festival was brought to Taiwan, where every year, at the beginning of the spring planting season, people would release "sky lanterns" into the air as a prayer for the coming year.

Sky lanterns were released with the wind, rising up to the ancestors to report that all was well and to pray for blessings. Slowly this evolved to become a local event for the Yuanxiao Festival in the Pingxi area.

For more information, please visit: Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

Yanshuei (Yanshui) Beehive Fireworks Festival

The Yanshuei (Yanshui) Beehive Fireworks Festival is ranked as the third largest folk celebration in the world and is one of the most representative religious events in all of Taiwan. With hundreds of thousands of firecrackers all going off at the same time, it is a cacophony like hundreds of thousands of bees streaming out of their hives. The event attracts huge numbers of onlookers every year and is paired with the "Pingxi Sky Lanterns" in describing Lantern Festival activities: "Sky lanterns in the north, beehive fireworks in the south."

For more information, please visit: Yanshuei (Yanshui) Beehive Fireworks Festival

Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage

Mazu's birthday falls in the third month of the Chinese lunar calendar, and at that time temples all over the island hold birthday activities including the burning of incense and tours of the deities around their domains. Some of the largest of the celebrations take place at Dajia's Zhenlan Temple in Taichung City, Lugang's Tianhou Temple in Changhua County, Chaotian Temple in Yunlin County, Datianhou Temple in Tainan City, and Fengtian Temple in Chiayi County. Zhenlan Temple's is the largest celebration of all, and also has the longest history.

The pilgrimage from Dajia's Zhenlan Temple takes place during the third month of the Chinese lunar calendar, around the time of Mazu's birthday. All sorts of festive activities are arranged at this time, including puppet stand theater performances, displays of embroidered banners, float parades, dragon and lion dances, and other events as the procession passes by. The nine-day procession passes through Changhua and Yunlin counties, and terminates at Fengtian Temple in Xingang, Chiayi County. Many devotees make the entire trip on foot.

For more information, please visit:  Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage