Crowd of 1 million expected for Taiwan Lantern Festival closing night

Tainan, March 10 (CNA) Over 1 million visitors are set to descend on Tainan for the closing night of the Taiwan Lantern Festival Sunday, according to local officials.

After attracting 1.07 million visits to the Anping site and the site near Taiwan High Speed Rail's Tainan Station on Saturday, the Tainan City government said in a statement that even more visitors are expected on the festival's final day.

The annual traveling lantern display hosted in Tainan is set to record total visits of more than 15 million, according to the city government.

Organizers of the 2023 edition of the event in Taipei said it attracted a record high of over 12 million visits.

From 5 p.m. on Sunday, light shows of the festival's main display at the site near the high speed rail station -- 22-meter-high "Dragon comes to Taiwan" -- have been put on until 9:30 p.m., before the formal closing ceremony takes place.

At the Anping site, meanwhile, a drone display featuring highlights of previous shows during the festival in Tainan will be shown, the city government said.

This year's event officially opened on Feb. 24, when President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) turned on the main dragon display to mark the Lunar New Year of the Dragon.

Taoyuan will be the host of the 2025 edition of the tourism event co-organized by the Tourism Administration every year.