This year’s Yue Jin Lantern Festival in Tainan will be the biggest and longest such event in the city’s history, the Tainan City Government said, adding that the city aims to attract 600,000 visitors to the festival.
Tainan Cultural Affairs Bureau Director Yeh Tse-shan (葉澤山) said the annual festival, held from today through Feb. 28, will encompass a larger area in Yanshui District’s (鹽水) Yuejin Port, featuring more light installations than previous festivals.
The festival will feature about 50 art installations utilizing light, created by foreign and Taiwanese artists, including seven large pieces that highlight the area’s cultural landmarks, four creations submitted by foreign artists and 23 pieces created by university and vocational-school students, he said.
Photo provided by the Tainan City Government Cultural Affairs Bureau
Notable pieces include an installation, titled Keyframes, by French art studio Groupe LAPS, Yeh said.
The piece is a mechanized contraption that portrays characters and actions in a setting with moving lights, he added.
Another creation to be featured is an installation, titled Yuemijin (月迷津), by Taiwanese artist Yu Wen-fu (游文富), which is an artificial bamboo-forest maze with lamps simulating natural light, he said.
Activities are planned for the festival’s duration, including dance performances, concerts and movie screenings at various locations in the area, such as the historic Yongcheng Theater (永成戲院), Ciaonan Street and Yanshui Street, the bureau said.
The area where previous festivals were held, including Yanshui’s old streets, will this year host light installations again, Yeh said, adding that the locations where the festival will be held for the first time this year include the riverine area near Public Bridge 18-2, the Water Purification Plant and two prominent temples in Yanshui District.
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