The 2013 Taiwan Lantern Festival will be represented by a dragon-shaped lantern standing 20 meters tall and weighing 26 metric tons, according to the Tourism Bureau Jan. 4.
Despite this being the Year of the Snake, the dragon was selected as the motif for the festival as it has long been dubbed small dragon by the Chinese people and is a more auspicious animal with longstanding ties to heaven and divinity, a bureau official said.
The dragon, which also symbolizes courage, represents expectations for the country to be prosperous, peaceful and for the people to enjoy health and happiness, the official added.
According to the bureau, the lantern will feature more than 200,000 light-emitting diode, or LED, lights, in keeping with the global trend of saving energy and reducing carbon emissions.
This year’s event will be held in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County from Feb. 24 to March 10, with 80,000 smaller snake lanterns handed out to participants for free.
Hosted jointly by the bureau and local governments since 1990, the festival has emerged as an international event, attracting thousands of visitors from at home and abroad.
In 2008, the Discovery Channel included the event in its series “Fantastic Festivals of the World.”
