Northern Taiwan Events

The northern calendar follows the lunar year, and two events in particular are worth planning a trip around.

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival — February

Held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, ending the Lunar New Year period. Paper lanterns are inscribed with wishes, lit from a fuel pad and released in their thousands from the railway tracks at Shifen and Pingxi, rising up the narrow valley in waves. The tradition began as a signal between villages that it was safe to return after bandit raids. It is spectacular and enormously crowded; the branch line runs extra services and the recovery of spent lanterns has become an organised effort. Smaller releases happen year round at Shifen if you cannot make the date.

Lunar New Year — late January or February

The major family festival. Dihua Street becomes a dense market for New Year provisions in the fortnight beforehand, temples fill at midnight for the first incense of the year, and many restaurants and shops close for several days. Transport books out well ahead.

Mazu pilgrimages — spring

The sea goddess Mazu is the most widely venerated deity in Taiwan, and her birthday in the third lunar month brings processions in which her palanquin is carried between temples over days, accompanied by drummers, spirit mediums and enormous crowds. The largest pilgrimages are in central Taiwan, but northern temples send delegations and hold their own processions, and the firecrackers and street shrines are unmistakable when one passes.

Through the year

Yangmingshan Flower Festival from February to March, with cherry blossom, azalea and later calla lilies on the volcano. The Dragon Boat Festival in June brings races on the Keelung and Dajia rivers. Ghost Month in the seventh lunar month sees offerings burned in the street and, at Keelung, a distinctive festival ending with the release of water lanterns into the harbour. Taipei Pride in October is the largest in Asia.