Festivals

Year-round celebrations to eat, drink and be merry

Word to the wise: With tribes resistant to becoming tourist fodder, aboriginal festivals are often quite secretive. Try the little-known folk festival in Neihu on the last day of Chinese New Year honouring the Earth god with mighty fireworks.
Beginning with Chinese New Year and ending with Western New Year, there’s usually something to celebrate in Taiwan, a nation that takes its festivals seriously. Here is a brief overview of some of the best:

1. The 14 days of feasting, fairs and parades of the Chinese New Year (mid-Jan to mid-Feb) culminates in the stunning Lantern Festival, such as the one held annually at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
2. Folk New Year's festivals include Bombing the Dragon, the Bombing of Master Handan and the Beehive Rocket Festival, all which feature up-close explosions.

3. During Dragon Boat (May or Jun) over 100 teams take to the water to re-enact the desperate race to find patriotic poet Chu Yuan, who threw himself into the river in 227 BC.

4. Mid-Autumn Festival (Sep) is a harvest celebration, in which families get together with fireworks and moon cakes.

5. Founding Day (Jan) is the Taiwanese Independence Day celebrating the 1912 inauguration of the Republic of China's first president with dancing lion and dragon parades and traditional Chinese music.