The annual fireworks display at Taipei 101 on New Year’s Eve will be longer and more expensive this year, with 30,000 rounds of fireworks being shot into the night sky, a Taipei 101 official said yesterday.
Seeking to dazzle spectators even more in its seventh year, the display will be 288 seconds long — 100 seconds longer than last year — and will cost NT$60 million (US$2 million), Michael Liu (劉家豪), assistant vice president of -Taipei Financial Center Corp, said in a press conference at the mall.
The fireworks display, Liu said, will be more spectacular with 360-degree fireworks engineering set up. More than 1,000 launching pads are to be set up to deploy fireworks on multiple levels.
PHOTO: CNA
As part of events to celebrate the Republic of China’s centenary, the display is to be put together by international explosives artist Cai Guoqiang (蔡國強).
There will be a total of 12 programs, with festive themes such as “Spiraling Dragon of -Auspiciousness,” in which fireworks will spiral around the building to the top, creating an image of a golden dragon.
Liu acknowledged that weather conditions would be a major concern, but said the designers were adopting materials that produced less smoke, which should help reduce the impact of rain or strong wind on the display.
Liu said Taipei Financial Center Corp would discuss with the display’s sponsors the words that will be displayed on the building at the end of the show.
He said the company would announce the list of sponsors at a later date for a show that has become a private-sponsored event after the Tourism Bureau stopped paying for it.
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