Annual Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival opens in Tainan

Tainan, March 2 (CNA) The annual Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival in Tainan, a tradition with over 100 years of history, kicked off Monday with salvos of beehive fireworks, drawing crowds eager to experience the explosive spectacle.

The two-day festival, traditionally held on the 14th and 15th days of the first month of the lunar calendar to celebrate the Lantern Festival, started at Yanshui Wu Temple, the event's main organizer.

Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) prayed at the temple for a safe and smooth two days of activities before lighting a string of firecrackers hoisted several meters into the air by a crane to signal the official start of the annual festival.

The event is one of Taiwan's most iconic folk festivals and a religious celebration that has drawn international attention, Huang said, noting that the tradition originated from efforts to ward off epidemics.

He hoped that the coming year, with the help of the deity's blessings, would be peaceful and free of natural disasters.

According to the temple, the festival's procession is divided into five routes covering different areas of Yanshui, with approximately 200 firecracker sets awaiting participants along the way.

The exploding firecrackers are believed to help drive away bad luck and misfortune, and being struck by them symbolizes an end to ill fortune and the arrival of blessings for the year ahead.