The 2023 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival, "Happiness in Taichung", will take place in Central Park, the Instagram-worthy photo site, for nine consecutive days from February 4 to 12. Today (Jan 5), the government held a press conference in the Taichung City Hall on Taiwan Avenue, and Yu-Min Wang, the vice mayor, introduced the highlights of the lantern show. There will be a 10m high main lantern on the water, "Happy Rabbit for Happiness in Taichung," a cute "Happy Rabbit" lantern, and a star-studded opening performance casts. There are also six themed light areas, 11 designs of rabbits, more than 30 lamp groups, multiple activities, and a "Park Rabbit" cultural and creative market with rich and eye-catching.

Vice mayor Wang appeared wearing a shiny rabbit ear headband and said that the theme of the 23rd Central Taiwan Lantern Festival is "Happiness in Taichung." They arranged more than 30 light groups in six themed light areas to create a bright lighting area exclusive to the landscape of Central Park with the theme of environmental friendliness. Among them, the 10-meter-high main lantern "Happy Rabbit for Happiness in Taichung" combines a large-scale scene of more than 3,000 square meters of water-mist, light, and shadow and cooperates with 130 beam lights to perform. This year's Lantern Festival will be the most dazzling light in the night sky during the Spring Festival. The government sincerely invites all people in Taiwan to come to Taichung to experience the brilliant feast of light, visit and enjoy the lanterns, and try some delicious food.

Mei-Xiu Chen, director of the Tourism and Travel Bureau, explained that "Happiness in Taichung" means happy families are full of joy. Hence, this year's theme of the Central Taiwan Lantern Festival is "Happy Rabbit for Happiness in Taichung." Other than the featured main lantern, there are also six themed lighting areas, each of which is a check-in hotspot not to be missed. It includes the "Rabbit Cute Burrow" light area, which incorporates Central Park's signature patio to create a cute fantasy scene that heals and relieves stress. The 8-meter-tall mother rabbit overlooks the baby bunny in the rabbit burrow and the super-relieving, attractive carrot field, which makes a great spot for group photos. In the "Cute Rabbit Kaleidoscope" light area there is a 10-meter-high Layher device to project all kinds of cute rabbits, sothat people of all ages cannot take their eyes off them. The bureau also set up LED lighting rhythm rabbits in the "Watershed of Light" lighting area and matched them with water mist lasers to make the scene gorgeous.

In addition, unicorn beetles, ladybugs, and dragonflies in the "Cute Bugs" light area are shining with lights, waiting to meet tourists in the forest. The "Nice Ice Buddy Looking for Friends" light area collaborates with the famous illustrator Milla to discuss environmental issues with the story of a heartwarming encounter between a little Antarctic penguin and a polar bear. The "Dream Tree" light area combines old trees in the park to create tree hole projections, taking visitors into a dream world and finding happiness in Taichung together. There is also a hidden Easter egg, the "Magic Box World" light area, a sci-fi style area created by the Construction Bureau in combination with the park's local environment, leading tourists into a mysterious and different world.

According to the Tourism and Travel Bureau, not only the work in the light area is colorful and eye-catching, but the various activities during the lantern festival are also more star-studded! At the opening performance on February 4th, they will invite the national performance troupe "Ju Percussion Group 2", favored singers Li-An Wei, Fang Wu, and GBOYSWAG to perform in turn. There will also be rich interactive performances on weekends during the event, including Love & life, Momokids Family, Balloon Talent Show, and Fantasy Magic Show, which are popular among both children and adults and will create a variety of lantern festival experiences for visitors. In addition, lolemarket, a well-known cultural and creative market in Taichung, will also establish a new "Park Rabbit x lolemarket" lantern market, which will bring tourists the most innovative market experience.

The Tourism and Travel Bureau indicated that the adorable "Happy Rabbit" handheld lantern is also a highlight of the lantern festival. They designed the lantern in the shape of a pet rabbit, with long ears, cute eyes, lazy sitting posture, and big feet, which look therapeutic and full of healing energy. Also, they changed the handle into a strap to let the children feel close to the rabbit, so they can carry the lantern on their chests, just like taking a pet when going out. During the Lantern Festival, queueing for the free handheld lantern will start at 4:00 pm every day, and the issuing will start at 4:30. The quantity is limited, and each person may only receive one while stocks last.

The Tourism and Travel Bureau stated that this year's Lantern Festival also has the significance of urban regeneration and economic revitalization after the epidemic. Many private enterprises voluntarily participated in the event, including Cathay Life Insurance Co., Ltd., Victor Taichung Machinery Works Co., Ltd., VIFO, Shin Chung Natural Gas Co., Ltd., Treasure Dragon Corp., Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd., Taipei Triangle Motors Ltd., Machan International Co., Ltd., Solar Plus Company, ShinChang Natural Gas Co., Ltd., San Zhong Gang Outlets Co., Ltd., ImPress Solutions Co., Ltd., The Association of Taichung Travel Agency, Chinese Entrepreneurs Commercial International T/S, Johnson Health Tech. Co., Ltd., and Dongxing Scale.

Also, OAV Equipment And Tools, INC., Cheng Loong Corporation, Yung Hung Precision Machinery Co., Ltd., Jiada Management Consulting Co., Ltd., Taichung Post Office, Pacific Department Store Feng Yuan, Showtime Live, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Co., Ltd. Taichung Zhonggang Branch, Taichung Mass Rapid Transit, Freshfields Hotel, Nayang Beach Co., Ltd., Taiwan More Media International Incorporation, Dongshih Forest Garden of Changhua County Farmers' Association, Taichung Tourist Hotel Association, Taichung Hotel Association, Taichung Municipal Tourist Hotel Association, Shuinan Store of Far Eastern A. Mart, Taichung International Exhibition Center, World Trade Center Taichung, etc., public and private cooperation shows the anticipation and a touch of new life after the epidemic.

The Tourism and Travel Bureau pointed out that shuttle buses will be avilable at MRT Taichung City Hall and MRT Songzhu Station (Taiwan Railway Songzhu Station) directly to the venue to facilitate the public to enjoy the lanterns on weekends during the lantern festival. For more information about the 2023 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival and traffic information, please visit Taichung Tourism (https://traveltc.tw/tr02hviRM) and Facebook "Play Taichung" (https://traveltc.tw/tr02Ii6bb).

The distinguished guests participating in today's event included legislator Qiong-Ying Yang, city councilors Shi-Zhou Liu, Ai-Shan Qiu, Ting-Wei Luo, vice mayor Wang, director of the Tourism and Travel Bureau Mei-Xiu Chen, director of the Information Bureau Zhao-Xin Zheng, deputy director of the Economic Development Bureau Yi-An Lee and senior executives of various marketing cooperation units. Besides, city councilors Zheng-Xian Chen, Xin-Hui Huang, Wen-Zheng Chen, and Jia-Yi Xie also sent representatives to attend.