Taipei Lantern Festival In 1990, the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communication held the first Taipei Lantern Festival at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Plaza. Due to the event's overwhelming popularity, the festival has been expanded every year. Each year, this festival showcases a new theme based on the zodiac animal of the year. The main event of the festival is the Lantern Lighting Ceremony held on the first day of the display with a fusion of color, light, and sound that attracts universal applause from onlookers. It is a show of dazzling color remembered by all.   Combining traditional art with modern technology, the Taipei Lantern Festival carries on a centuries-old folk custom, and has become a major activity marking the beginning of the Chinese New Year.