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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Lantern festival to feature tuna in break with custom
Children sit around a miniature version of a tuna-inspired main lantern, which is to be featured at the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Pingtung County, at a news conference held by the Tourism Bureau at the Grand Hotel in Taipei yesterday. The festival, which this year runs from Feb. 19 to March 3, is to be held at three locations in the county, including Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area, where the main lantern is to be featured. Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
The main lantern at this year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival is to be shaped like a tuna, breaking away from the tradition of using animals from the Chinese zodiac for the first time in three decades, Tourism Bureau Director-General Chou Yung-hui （周永暉） said at the design’s unveiling.
The main lantern would have depicted a pig this year if the bureau had continued the tradition.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the festival, which is to be held from Feb. 19 to March 3 in Dapeng Bay （大鵬灣） in Pingtung County’s Donggang Township （東港） and two other locations.
“We want the presentation to reflect the culture, history and food of the area where the festival is held,” Chou said. “Because Donggang is famous for its tuna fisheries and the festival’s theme is ‘A bountiful harvest and peace,’ the main design features a giant tuna instead.”
The 16m-tall main lantern is to be put on permanent display in Dapeng Bay after the festival ends, Chou said.
During the festival, the main lantern would be placed over the bay and visitors could take boat tours to view it at night, the bureau said.
Although the main lantern is not a pig, handheld lanterns — which are to be distributed to visitors — are inspired by the imagery of Pingtung County’s Wind Pig God （風豬爺）, featuring a large nose, ears and eyes.
The handheld lanterns are to be available in red, yellow and blue.
The colors represent blessings, good fortune and the ocean respectively, said Hung Hsin-fu （洪新富）, who designed the handheld lantern.
The lanterns are painted with images of bats, peony flowers, and traditional Rukai and Paiwan motifs, he said.
With a small slot on top, the lanterns can be used as piggy banks after the festival is over, Hung said.
One of the large lanterns that is to complement the main lantern would also be a Wind Pig God, made of fiber-reinforced plastic, the bureau said.
As the guardian of the mountains and plains, the Wind Pig God is usually portrayed with a fierce face, but the lantern design was made more approachable with families and children in mind, it said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
