2022 New Taipei Lantern Festival “Lantern Theater“

New Taipei Metropolitan Park includes various landscapes, including retention ponds, retention waterways, grasslands, trees, paved roads, and bridges. It’s urban park that serves both flood prevention and leisure functions.

2022 New Taipei Lantern Festival chose the theme Lantern Theater, and designed various sections based on local environments. Seven topics included theater at the temple, concerts on water, street performances, and bear forest. For the Year of Tiger, it also included a 120-meter main lantern section that visitors could walk through.

“Theater at the Temple” built temple-shaped lanterns and a stage on top of the retention pond, and invited traditional theater companies to perform. Flying egret lanterns were placed at waterways. “Concerts on Water” presented a cappella and orchestra performances. “Street Performances” highlighted circus and street dance with lanterns that resembled urban landmarks.

Based on traditional lantern techniques, the festival innovatively included performing arts, mechanical devices, lighting design, and interactive technologies. It was the first lantern festival curated with theater. It pushed the boundary to explore other possibilities to integrate traditional lanterns and other cultural forms.