The 2026 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival will be brilliantly lit at Taichung Central Park on February 15 (the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve), officially opening to the public. Among the highlights, the highly anticipated curated lantern zone presented by the Construction Bureau, Taichung City Government, which sparks lively discussion and draws huge crowds year after year, is making a major return. Created by the popular curatorial team behind the buzzworthy “Magic Box World” in 2023 and “Dragon’s Dimension” in 2024, the brand-new immersive lantern zone, “Jingzhe Realm,” is set to debut, inviting visitors into a fantastical otherworldly adventure that blends nature, ecology, art, and culture, already creating a sensation ahead of its unveiling.
Construction Bureau Director Da-tian Chen said that, for three consecutive years, the Construction Bureau has combined “otherworld storytelling” with “immersive experiences” to create lantern festival highlights, continually refreshing the public’s imagination of the festival. This year, “Jingzhe Realm” draws inspiration from Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects), one of the 24 solar terms that symbolizes the first spring thunder and the awakening of all living things, with “spring thunder awakening the earth and life sprouting anew” as its creative core. Through the interplay of craftsmanship, floral art, mixed-media installations, and light-and-sound effects, it creates a richly layered immersive exhibition space reminiscent of a rainforest.
Director Da tian Chen further noted that the overall design cleverly echoes the free spirited and energetic imagery of the Year of the Horse. The circulation route flows as naturally as the pulse of the earth, and as visitors move through the zone, it feels as if they are advancing to the rhythm of spring thunder, personally experiencing the striking moment when vitality awakens from deep within the land and spreads upward. The journey unfolds as a dynamic and unprecedented fantastical exploration. The lantern zone also features diverse interactive, scenario based presentations, including rainforest light and shadow that shift over time, art installations symbolizing imagery of ancient civilizations, and artistic landscapes that interpret natural textures through refined craftsmanship. Through layered visual and audio elements and the spatial route design, visitors are guided to feel the hope and emotion brought by the surge of spring energy throughout the exploration.
The Construction Bureau explained that the entrance to the “Jingzhe Realm” zone features a “White Horse” art installation standing up to 5 meters tall. Using metalwork craftsmanship combined with woven straps and other mixed media, it forms a giant horse head, complemented by layered lighting designs that create distinctly different visuals by day and by night. At night, under the illumination, the massive horse figure appears even more mysterious and dreamlike, as if unveiling the prologue to an otherworldly realm. The surrounding area of the zone also creates an immersive lighting environment, with the main lantern guiding visitors into the circulation route. Along the way, torch lights set the tone for shifting ambience, and fantastical colors flow among the trees, as if the forest is awakening, delivering a hazy yet striking sensory experience.
The Construction Bureau, Taichung City Government, added that the 2026 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival brings together five Taichung City Government departments to create seven major themed lantern zones, showcasing the city’s creative energy through cross-sector collaboration. The festival will be lit on February 15, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve, and will close on March 3, the Lantern Festival, and will be closed only on Lunar New Year’s Eve. The Construction Bureau’s “Jingzhe Realm” lantern zone is located along Qiaoda 8th St. and Jingmao 5th Rd., covering approximately 1.72 hectares. It is a key zone not to be missed at Taichung Central Park. Combining art, light and shadow, and sound effects, it invites the public to step into a springtime otherworld and experience a light and shadow spectacle that brings impact, fun, and emotion.