Dozens injured in raucous Lantern Festival events in Tainan, Taitung

Taipei, March 4 (CNA) At least 47 people were injured this week in Lantern Festival-related folk events in Tainan and Taitung, in which participants formed processions and braved dense barrages of bottle rockets or firecrackers.

Tainan

At the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival in Tainan, which took place on Monday and Tuesday, a total of 36 people suffered injuries, including six stemming from falls, the city's Bureau of Civil Affairs told CNA.

The other 30 injured people suffered burns after being hit by dense barrages of bottle rockets -- which are said to be reminiscent of bees swarming out of a hive -- including one who was treated in a hospital for burns on their neck and fingers, the bureau said.

The Yanshui Beehive Festival, a tradition with over 100 years of history, is held on the 14th and 15th days of the first month of the lunar calendar to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

After starting at the Yanshui Wu Temple, the festival's procession is divided into several routes covering different areas of Yanshui, with approximately 200 firecracker sets awaiting participants along the way.

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

Taitung

Meanwhile, 11 people were taken to Taitung's MacKay Memorial Hospital on Tuesday after suffering injuries on the first day of the Bombing of Master Han Dan Festival.

Of those injured, 6 people were discharged after being treated for minor burns, while one person, who suffered 1st-degree burns on 35 percent of their body, was transferred for further treatment in Taichung, where they live, MacKay Hospital said.

In the Bombing of Han Dan Festival, shirtless men playing the role of the deity Han Dan are paraded through the streets on a sedan chair, while spectators throw lit firecrackers at them.

According to the Ministry of Culture, there are several legends about the festival's origins, including one that views Lord Han Dan as Zhao Gongming, the god of wealth, who must be welcomed by merchants hoping for prosperous business.

Another custom says Lord Han Dan was a local tyrant, who receives firecrackers on the Lantern Festival to atone for his sins, while a third variant has it that Han Dan is a plague god, who must be driven away by firecrackers.

The two-day festival is scheduled to conclude around 9 p.m. Wednesday at Taitung's Xuanwu Temple.