2024 Nantou Lantern Festival — Phoenix.Dragon.Luck

Dragons and Phoenixes hold significant roles in Eastern culture, symbolizing distinct yet complementary values and meanings such as power, auspiciousness, happiness, and harmony. Their images are often depicted in various occasions and traditional settings. The design team unprecedentedly presents the dragon and phoenix together in a single giant lantern display. The dragon climbs up the rocks while the phoenix dances gracefully, which symbolizes the brightness and blessings of the new year.

The main lantern, set against the backdrop of Nantou’s iconic ecosystem of Nantou, showcases Taiwan’s national bird, Mikado pheasant, and the Taiwan barbet, an endemic bird to Taiwan, leisurely roaming amidst the mountains and waterfalls, while butterflies freely flutter between the valleys.

The main lantern display this year focuses on the theme of blossoming flowers, accompanied by AR interactive experiences. Through the combination of butterflies, flowers, and music, visitors are able to engage in interactive experiences while viewing the artworks, fully immersing themselves in the diverse artistic content.

By the skillfully blending traditional lantern craftsmanship with mechanical movements and audio-visual effects, the design perfectly captures the imagery of dragons and phoenixes soaring amidst the beautiful scenery in Nantou, accompanied by a poetic atmosphere of fragrant flowers, singing birds, and dancing butterflies welcoming the arrival of spring. The design brings the viewers a moving and unparalleled lantern feast.

The main lantern design, titled “Phoenix soars in splendor; Dragon brings luck,” aligns with the theme of 2024 lantern festival, “An Inclusive and Livable City,” drawing inspiration from the zodiac sign of 2024, the dragon. It integrates the image of the surrounding mountains in Nantou, creating a scene of a giant dragon spiraling around the mountains, symbolizing the dragon guarding Nantou and bringing auspiciousness. The design not only presents its perfect visual during the day, but also elevates the experience to encompass sight, sound and spirit through the combination of lighting, music and graceful dynamic show at night.