Taipei (Taiwan News) – The Taipei Lantern Festival 2025 started on Sunday and will run for two weeks.
In order to celebrate the year of snake, this year's festival takes over the topic “Lucky Snake Will Come” with special lantern areas in those, Ximen and Zhongshan Hall. In addition, 17 participating temples have decorative lanterns in accordance with a press release.
The lanterns are illuminated daily from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. with light, music and laser performance from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on February 16 on February 16 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
As in previous years, the organizers will distribute a free handheld lantern to children and continue the tradition of celebrating the festival spirit. This year's design in Limited Edition offers a snake motif, which emphasizes sustainability and reusability.
The organizers believe that the year of snake symbolizes hope, joy and prosperity. According to a press release in the city, “the body of snake wisdom and vitality, which shifts between cities and brings infinite energy”.
The snake also represents “landing on its feet” and makes it a happy symbol for hope and happiness for 2025. In addition to public performances and special activities, the city has arranged lantern corridors for visitors to comfortably enjoy the displays.
The first lantern inspection route begins in the Nishi Honganji residue (西本願寺) on Zhonghua Road. Visitors can walk through the “Good Luck Corridor”, receive a prayer card in a limited edition, write their wishes for the future and hang them in the “prayer lantern forest”.
Next, visitors come across the “White Snake Turn”, a carefully designed paper sculpture that is perfect for selfies. Special lighting and pictures from the old story “The Legend of the White Snake” give a mystical note. At the intersection of the Zhonghua Road and the Chengdu Road, contemporary graffiti art combines with traditional lucky pockets.
Visitors from the exit 6 of Ximen MRI Station see “Wait Baum”, a slight installation of Teru, the lead singer of the Japanese rock band Glay. Inspired by his hometown, work symbolizes the search for hope in difficult times. The route ends in Zhongshan Hall, in which the main topic of the Lantern festival was designed in the festival and is supposed to initiate future blessings.
The second lantern visual path begins in the Seme MRI station, where the lantern competition area (open February 5) presents 60 innovative designs by lantern artists from all over Taiwan. Nearby is the “Friendly Cities Light District” with lighting installations from 16 countries so that visitors can experience global cultures without leaving Taipei.
In the Fuxing Elementary School overpass, artists worked with students to create hundreds of hand-decorated lanterns. In the meantime, the sound artist Lim Giong (林強 林強 林強) created an immersive sound landscape in an installation that is shaped like a Yangmingshan -Calla lily and is improved with dazzling lighting effects.
The Taipei Tourism Bureau reminds the public that special traffic control measures from February 2 to 16 will be available on streets around the festival. There are no parking spaces available at the event and visitors are asked to use public transport.
Further event details can be found on the official website of 2025 Taipei Lantern Festival.