The Taiwan Lantern Festival is to be held in Taichung next year and in Hsinchu City in 2021, the Tourism Bureau announced yesterday.
The bureau has made it a practice to announce the locations for two consecutive years each time since 2017.
The venues for next year’s festival are to include Taichung’s Houli Horse Ranch (后里馬場), Huludun Park in Fengyuan District (豐原) and Taichung Central Park, the first two of which are hosting the Taichung World Flora Exposition until April 24 this year, bureau Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said.
Photo: Su Chin-feng, Taipei Times
“Taichung was chosen because it is close to scenic areas in Miaoli, Changhua and Nantou counties, allowing the municipality to arrange one to two-day tours for visitors to the lantern festival,” Chou said.
The two venues now hosting the Taichung World Flora Exposition can be accessed by public transportation,” he said.
Visitors to next year’s festival could also overflow to nearby counties, which would raise returns, Chou said.
The Taichung City Government has pledged to set aside and raise more than NT$400 million (US$13.01 million) for the festival, Chou said, adding that the pledge helped it win the bid.
Taichung previously hosted the event in 2003 and 2015.
Hsinchu City is revamping its old town area, including Hsinchu Park and the Hsinchu City Zoo, to make it more pedestrian-friendly, Chou said.
Hsinchu Railway Station is an important hub for railway tourism, offering transfers to the Neiwan and Liujia branch lines, and the area is known for its high-tech and glass industries, he said.
The city is the only major locality that has not yet hosted the event, he added.
The Taichung event is to last from Feb. 8 to Feb. 23 next year, while the Hsinchu City festival is to take place from Feb.26 to March 7, 2021.
Announcing locations two years ahead helps with international tourism campaigns and enables hosts to start preparing early, Chou said.
Last year’s and this year’s locations are in the south, so the bureau selected central and northern cities for the coming two years, he said.
Experts evaluated cities and counties based on several criteria, including whether they had suitable venues and whether those venues were accessible by different modes of transport, the bureau said.
Experts also looked at accommodation capacity, safety management, tourism promotion plans and fundraising ability, it said.
Changhua County was originally selected for next year, but after the local elections on Nov. 24 last year, the Executive Yuan asked newly elected officials whether they were interested in hosting next year, the bureau said, adding that Changhua did not submit an application.
Taichung was given the right to host the festival after defeating Miaoli, Yilan and Hualien counties, the bureau said.
Former Taichung mayor and Minister of Transportion and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) congratulated Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and Taichung residents for the nomination.
He said he was glad that the evaluation committee had recognized the city’s beauty and resources.
Lin, of the Democratic Progressive Party, ran for re-election in the Taichung mayoral election, but was defeated by Lu, of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
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