culture & tradition · Taiwan
Taiwan Lantern Festival
台灣燈會
The short answer
National lantern exhibition with a main zodiac lantern, large lantern installations and light shows, hosted by a different city or county each year.
Where
rotating host (2026: Chiayi County; 2027: Miaoli County)
Country
Taiwan
When
annual, opens around the Lantern Festival (15th day of the 1st lunar month) and runs about two weeks; host city or county rotates
Last held
2026-03-03 to 2026-03-15
Next edition
2027-02-20 to 2027-03-07
Next dates are
official, described as tentative
Organiser
Tourism Administration, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, with the host county or city government
Visitors
more than 10 million visits (2026 Chiayi edition, figure reported at the closing; source of the count not stated)
Good to know
2027 dates (20 February to 7 March, 16 days) were given by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications at the 2026 closing and by Miaoli County, and are described as tentative. The lantern area is planned around the Miaoli high-speed rail station in Houlong; theme '山海之間.慢城光苗'. Free admission. The 2026 edition had shuttle-bus shortages and heavy crowding on the first weekend, so weekday visits are advised. The URL is the Tourism Administration's general site; a dedicated 2027 site was not found.
Kungfucius says: A different host city every year, so Kungfucius gets lost somewhere new each time.
Official website ↗