Yanshui Beehive Fireworks 2027: est. 19–20 February, full protective gear required

The date follows the lunar calendar, so it moves every year. In 2027 Lantern Festival night falls on a Saturday: the palanquin is expected to leave the Wu Temple on the evening before (the 14th of the first lunar month), with the main towers fired at Yanshui Junior High School on Lantern Festival night. The 2027 routes and times have not been published yet. In 2026 the palanquin left the Wu Temple in the evening, and the town-wide procession began the next evening and ran until morning.

With the festival on a Saturday, rooms around Xinying and Yanshui will be harder to find than on a weeknight.

The event centres on Yanshui District in Tainan: the procession starts at the Yanshui Wu Temple, and the main towers on Lantern Festival night are on the Yanshui Junior High School field. Wherever the palanquin passes, the rocket towers along the route are lit.

On Lantern Festival night in 2026 the procession split into five routes, A to E. Route E ran from the Wu Temple along Jinhe Road to the school field, where the main towers stood. The field is the main firing zone, and you need full-body gear to enter it.

The rockets fly flat into the crowd, so standing in the barrage means getting hit, and even full gear doesn't stop you feeling it. The procession runs from evening until the early hours, lighting towers all along the way, and the noise and smoke are heavy. If you don't want to be hit, have children with you, or are sensitive to loud bangs or smoke, stay outside the firing zone at Yanshui Junior High School and keep clear of towers being lit along the route.

Main route: take the train to Xinying Station, then the Brown Main Line or Brown 1–6 buses from across the street to Yanshui. In 2026 the last bus from Yanshui to Xinying left at 1:00 and the last train from Xinying to Tainan at 23:00. From 15:00 on Lantern Festival day the town centre is closed to traffic, so buses and cars stop on the outskirts and you walk in for about 10 minutes. Parts of Wumiao Road, Beimen Road and Sanfu Road are pedestrian-only from 18:00 to 23:00.

For lodging, look around Yanshui, in Xinying or in central Tainan. The main towers go up at 21:00, which leaves little time to make the 23:00 last train from Xinying to Tainan; a night in Xinying or Yanshui means you don't have to leave early for it.

The official event page lists no tickets. The main cost is protective gear: a full-face helmet, a heavy jacket and trousers, gloves, a mask and a towel. You can bring your own, and stalls along the way sell heavy jackets, helmets and gloves.

Allow for the physical effort too. On Lantern Festival night in 2026 the procession set out at 18:30 and each route was scheduled to finish between 2:00 and 4:00 the next morning, mostly spent standing and walking. Keep the next day light.

The Wu Temple recommends a full-face helmet, a towel round the neck, a mask, a cotton or denim jacket, cotton or denim trousers, gloves, and flat shoes or trainers, covering you completely with no gaps.

Choose non-flammable materials. Cover the places that tend to be exposed, such as the neck, wrists and ankles, so sparks can't get in.

Main firing zone: you need full-body gear to enter the Yanshui Junior High School field.

Towers and distance: the Wu Temple advises picking towers that carry an inspection approval mark and staying about 5 to 10 metres away. Inside the barrage, keep your head down and turn sideways rather than facing the tower.

Help: the Yanshui police station runs a temporary help centre during the festival if you get separated or need assistance.

The custom is said to date back more than a century to a cholera epidemic, when residents set off firecrackers to invite Guan Gong to tour the town and drive out the disease, and it has continued every Lantern Festival since. The more rockets, the more peace for the year ahead, and being hit is said to bring good luck.