Taiwan is celebrating the Lantern Festival with a variety of light displays and performances spanning the entire country. This year, Taoyuan in the country's north is hosting the national celebration event, with guests ranging from Pokémon to the president.
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00:00Lantern Festival celebrations are underway here in Taiwan with cities across the country
00:06hosting spectacular light shows and performances to wave goodbye officially to the Lunar New
00:12Year and welcome in the spring.
00:15But it's this city, Taoyuan, that's been chosen to host the national celebrations.
00:21Light and lantern exhibitions are spread across several square kilometers here in Taoyuan
00:28City with collaborations with big brands like Pokemon and Attack on Titan, people traveling
00:34from across Taiwan up here to the north in Taoyuan to celebrate the Lantern Festival.
00:41Now the festival dates back several thousand years and has a lot of meaning and symbolism
00:46attached to it.
00:48During this time of year, friends and family generally gather together to eat Tangyuan,
00:54which are glutinous rice balls in a sweet soup.
00:58The lanterns themselves holding a lot of meaning.
01:01The ones that fly off into the sky representing waving goodbye to the year behind you and
01:06welcoming the year ahead, hopefully a year full of prosperity and well wishes.
01:13Earlier today I spoke to some people here in Taoyuan about what Lantern Festival means
01:19to them.
01:21And President Lai Ching-de himself attended the celebrations to address the nation.
01:28And President Lai Ching-de himself attended the celebrations to address the nation.
01:48It's not just here in the host city, Taoyuan, that people will be gathering under the flickering
01:53lights of the lanterns to celebrate.
01:55But in cities all across Taiwan, from Taidong to Taipei, from Pingdong to Pingxi, friends,
02:02families and communities will get together to say a final farewell to the year behind
02:08us and welcome the new year with hope and open arms.
02:12Hank Hsu, John Hsu and Rhys Ayres in Taoyuan for Taiwan Plus.