After the celebrations for the Chinese New Year after taken place, there&rsquos something even more to look forward to in Taiwan. Lo and behold, the Taiwan Lantern Festival. An annual affair, the skies and streets of Taiwan light up with lanterns small and large. Two festivals take place concurrently in the south East Asian country. The sky lantern festival, also known as the Pingxi Lantern Festival takes place only in the Pingxi district in Taiwan, which is 45 minutes from the capital Taipei. Here, thousands of locals and tourists gather together and release lanterns to the sky, making a wish as they do so. The event is organized in two-three areas within Pingxi, the most popular being the one in the Shifen district. One is advised to get to the venue in advance, carry snacks and their own lanterns (which can be bought in the local markets) and make a wish
At the same time, a much bigger large-scale festival embraces Taiwan &ndashthe official Lantern Festival. Think of this as a parade minus the floats. Lanterns of all shapes, sizes and designs take on the venue of the festival. This year, that is the Donggang Village in Pingtung County,  Taiwan. This year sees the 30th anniversary of the festival and it is taking place from February 19&mdashMarch 3 2019.
Getting there Several airlines fly from India to Taiwan such as Air India, Jet Airways, Hong Kong Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, among others.  Taiwan offers free visa to all Indian nationals, so there is nothing holding you back