The Tourism Bureau said yesterday it had suggested that Discovery Channel report next year on what would be the country’s biggest lantern festival ever.
“The Discovery Channel production team has shown great interest in the event and they are considering sending a crew to cover the 20th Lantern Festival next year,” said Wayne Liu (劉喜臨), head of the International Affairs Division.
If Discovery covers the celebrations, it would be the second time that the channel filmed the event, he said.
Seattle-based Marc Pingry Productions shot a segment on Taiwan’s Lantern Festival in February for a Discovery Channel production called Fantastic Festivals of the World, Liu said.
The production combined video footage of large-scale celebrations around the globe.
“The one-hour program, which was broadcast on June 27 on the US Discovery Channel, received a great response from viewers and gave Taiwan a spot on the world stage,” Liu said.
The program not only included the Taiwan Lantern Festival, but also the Heavenly Lantern Festival in Pingsi (平溪), Taipei County, the God of Wealth Festival in Taitung and the Beehive Rocket Festival in Yanshuei (鹽水), Tainan County, the bureau said. In addition to showing the festivities, the program explored the history and culture of these events.
Liu said the Lantern Festival was full of the kind of “local culture and flavor” that Discovery Channel included in its programming.
Next year’s Lantern Festival will be held at the Ilan Sports Park in Ilan County in February and will be the 20th national celebration of the event. Liu said the Tourism Bureau hoped the production team would return to film the largest Taiwan Lantern Festival yet.
He said Discovery Channel would consider the suggestion when its the production team visits Taiwan next month to shoot a program on local cuisine.
The Lantern Festival, which marks the end of Lunar New Year celebrations, is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar year. During the festival, families usually visit temples at night, carrying lanterns and trying to solve riddles.
The Taiwan Lantern Festival is organized by local authorities, with the location of the festivities rotating each year.
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