Pingxi Lantern Festival 2027: Best Time to Visit, Tickets and Travel Tips

The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival 2027 has no confirmed date yet, but a government calendar currently lists 17 February 2027 ⁹ and another guide gives 21 February 2027 ¹⁰. The festival follows the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so the date moves every year against the Gregorian calendar.

New Taipei City normally holds two evening mass releases rather than one. In 2026 the first took place on 27 February 2026 at Pingxi Junior High School and the second on 3 March 2026 at Shifen Sky Lantern Square ². In 2025 the Pingxi release was on 9 February 2025 and the Shifen release fell on Lantern Festival day itself, a Wednesday ⁴.

That pattern suggests that in 2027 the Pingxi Junior High School release will come first and the Shifen Sky Lantern Square release will follow close to the Lantern Festival night, although the city has to announce it. Plan your trip for the week around 17 February 2027 and keep your flights and bookings flexible until New Taipei City publishes the schedule.

Do not confuse this with the Taiwan Lantern Festival, a separate national event that moves to a different host each year. A travel calendar says the 2027 national festival is expected in Miaoli County from 20 February to 7 March 2027 ⁹, while another travel guide lists Miaoli as planned for 2027 ⁸. Pingxi is a mountain-village event of floating lanterns, whereas the national festival is a large display of lit lantern sculptures.

• Pingxi event: wish lanterns released into the sky in New Taipei City

• Taiwan Lantern Festival: a rotating national exhibition, expected in Miaoli in 2027 ⁹

• Past editions: 27 February 2026 and 3 March 2026 ²

Tip: Treat any date you read before the city announcement as a planning date. Book refundable accommodation first, and fix train plans only after the official schedule appears.

Attending the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival is free according to a 2026 guide, and you pay only if you buy your own lantern from a shop ¹. The same guide lists about NT$200 for a single-colour lantern and NT$250 to NT$350 for a multi-colour one ¹. Shops in Shifen, Pingxi and Jingtong sell lanterns for release on ordinary days, normally between 9 AM and 7 PM ⁶.

The mass release adds a second route. The 2026 guide describes a free voucher, handed out first come, first served on the day, that lets you take part in a timed wave at Shifen Sky Lantern Square ¹. It also says the vouchers run out by mid-afternoon and recommends arriving by noon ¹. Treat that as a 2026 description and check how New Taipei City handles distribution before you travel, because the arrangement can change between editions.

When you buy a lantern, the shop staff explain how to write on it and light it. The lanterns come in single colours or in four to five-colour versions, and each colour carries a meaning that decides which one you pick ¹. The next sections cover the colours and the legal release area.

• Entry to the festival: free according to a 2026 guide ¹

• Single-colour lantern: about NT$200 ¹

• Multi-colour lantern: NT$250 to NT$350 ¹

• Pingxi Line day pass: NT$80 ⁶

The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival 2027 in Pingxi District will not charge for standing in the square, but you should still budget for a lantern, a train pass and street food.

Tip: Pick a single-colour lantern if you travel alone, and a multi-colour one if the whole group wants to write wishes on different sides.

The Pingxi Line is a 12.9 km branch line that runs from Ruifang to Jingtong, and you reach it from Taipei by taking any eastbound main-line train to Ruifang ^{6 7}. A local train from Taipei Main Station to Ruifang takes 45 minutes to one hour ⁶. At Ruifang you change platforms for the Pingxi Line, which has nine stops including Houtong, Shifen, Pingxi and the terminus at Jingtong ⁷.

Shifen Station is the stop for Shifen Old Street and Shifen Sky Lantern Square, and Pingxi Station is the stop for Pingxi Junior High School. A single fare from Ruifang to Shifen was NT$19 and Ruifang to Jingtong was NT$30 in a guide dated October 2025 ⁶. The one-day pass for the Pingxi and Shen'ao lines costs NT$80, children aged 6 to 12 pay NT$40, and children under 6 ride free ⁶. The pass is sold at several stations, including Ruifang, Shifen, Pingxi and Jingtong ⁶.

The pass makes sense only if you ride four or five times, so on a single festival night two single fares may be cheaper ⁶. On a mass-release evening the platforms are far busier than usual, and New Taipei City has in past years operated shuttle buses from key transit hubs ¹¹.

• Taipei Main Station to Ruifang: 45 minutes to one hour by local train ⁶

• Ruifang to Shifen: NT$19 single fare ⁶

• Ruifang to Jingtong: NT$30 single fare ⁶

• Line length: 12.9 km ⁶

Driving is a poor choice for the night. Provincial Highway 2 leads toward Pinglin, but parking near the stations is limited and the festival traffic is heavy ¹⁰.

Tip: Buy your pass or your return ticket on the way in, not on the way out, when the queue at the Shifen Station counter can take a long time.

At Shifen Sky Lantern Square the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival 2027 is expected to follow a pattern of timed waves, and the 2026 edition announced nine waves of releases on each event day ². The same report said about 150 lanterns went up per wave on 3 March 2026 ². In 2025 the Shifen release ran from 6 to 9 p.m. ⁴.

You write your wish on the paper before the wave, usually with a brush or marker at a table, and then hold the lantern with your group while a staff member lights the fuel. Volunteers and shop staff tell you when to let go, and the lantern rises in a few seconds. Do not light it yourself; a 2026 guide says to rely on the staff for lighting and release ¹.

Pingxi Junior High School works differently, because the release happens on a school sports field where the crowd stands in the open. In 2025 an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people released small lanterns there ⁴. The Shifen square is better for photographs because the valley walls frame the lanterns, while the school field is easier for families who prefer open ground.

• Shifen Sky Lantern Square: No. 136, Nanshanping, Pingxi District ⁵

• Pingxi Junior High School: No. 295, Sec. 2, Jing'an Rd., Pingxi District ⁵

• Release windows in past editions: 6 to 9 p.m. in 2025 ⁴

If you simply want to watch, stand on the Shifen Station platform side of the square and look up when the countdown starts. Lanterns climb quickly, and the best photographs come in the minute after each launch.

Tip: Photograph the lantern with your group before release, then put the phone away and watch it climb. The second wave is usually less crowded than the first.

Each colour on a Pingxi sky lantern stands for a wish, and the three most common are red for health, yellow for wealth and blue for career, as a 2026 guide describes them ¹. Shops will tell you the rest if you ask, and a multi-colour lantern lets one group cover several wishes at once.

The custom began, according to local accounts, nearly 200 years ago as a safety signal. Villagers in the Pingxi valley sent up lanterns to tell families hiding from bandits that it was safe to return ³. A 2026 guide adds a second story, in which lanterns carried spring-planting wishes for harvests and children ¹. New Taipei City began promoting the release as cultural tourism in 1999 ¹.

When you write, use the Chinese you know or a short phrase in English. Staff will not read your wish, but they do check that the lantern is fully covered so the paper does not tear in the wind. Families often write the whole group's names along the bottom and each person's wish along a side.

• Red: health ¹

• Yellow: wealth ¹

• Blue: career ¹

Writing happens at a table in the shop or beside the square, and the pen or brush is usually provided. Do not spend too long on the artwork because the queue behind you is real.

Tip: Write the wish first, then decorate. If the shop runs out of one colour, a multi-colour lantern is a fine substitute.

Lanterns may be released legally from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the zone between the Shifen Visitor Center and Shigong Bridge along the Keelung River ³. Fines for breaking the rules under the Fire Safety Law can reach NT$3,000, and large groups need a permit ³.

The tracks at Shifen Station are the most common mistake. A trial run by the Taiwan Railways Administration allowed releases on the track at Shifen Station on weekends through January 2026, and the rule may be extended to other stations if it succeeds ³. Outside that trial, releasing on the rails is illegal. In August 2025 two YouTubers were each fined NT$10,000 for releasing lanterns on the Shifen Station track ³.

Lanterns that land on rooftops, trees or the railway can start fires and delay trains, which is why the rules exist. Shops now sell eco-friendly lanterns for a few extra dollars, and using one helps keep the valley clean ⁶. Pack out your own rubbish and do not climb on the tracks to retrieve a lantern.

• Legal hours: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. ³

• Fine: up to NT$3,000 under the Fire Safety Law ³

• Large groups: a permit is required ³

For the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival 2027 the rules in New Taipei City may change, so check the shop notices when you arrive.

Tip: Ask the shop which area is open that day before you walk to the river. Rules on the track area can change from one weekend to the next.

February is cold, damp and often rainy in the Pingxi valley, and a 2026 guide says mountain temperatures can be 10 to 15 degrees Celsius cooler than in central Taipei ¹. The 2025 Pingxi release was described as cold and wet ⁴.

Pack for wet stone and mud. A 2026 guide recommends layers with a waterproof outer shell, shoes with grip because Shifen's stone alleys are slippery, and a compact umbrella ¹. Heavy rain can cancel a release, so check the New Taipei City announcement before you travel ¹. Do not assume a cloudy afternoon means the night is cancelled; releases have gone ahead in drizzle, but a heavy downpour is a different matter.

Wind matters too. Lanterns go up straight in still air and tilt in gusts, and staff may delay a wave if the wind is strong. Evening temperatures drop quickly once the sun goes behind the ridge, so wear the warm layer before you queue, not after. Gloves are useful because paper and fuel are fiddly with cold fingers.

• Waterproof jacket and compact umbrella ¹

• Shoes with grip for slippery stone ¹

• Warm layers, gloves and a hat for the wait

• Power bank, because cold drains phone batteries

Late February to March is the festival window in most years, but the mid-February date for the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival 2027 will be a few days cooler than the 2026 edition.

Tip: Pack a spare dry pair of socks in a plastic bag; wet feet are the main reason people leave early.

Taipei is the easier base for most visitors, because the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival 2027 is a half-day trip from the capital and Taipei has the widest choice of hotels. Ruifang is the better base if you want an early start or a late finish, since it is the junction for the Pingxi Line and sits about halfway between Taipei and Yilan ⁶.

From Ruifang, a bus to Jiufen takes about 10 minutes ⁶. Jiufen's shops and teahouses generally open around 10 AM and become very crowded in the afternoon, so stay there if you want to see the hillside after dark with fewer people ⁶. Houtong, the cat village, lies a six-minute ride south of Ruifang by train and has more than 200 resident cats ⁶.

Rooms near Shifen are limited because the valley is small. Guesthouses in Jiufen and Ruifang fill up for the festival weekend, so book as soon as the date is announced. If you stay in Taipei, accept that the last trains will constrain you, and plan to leave the square before the final release if the crowd looks heavy.

• Taipei: most hotels, easy airport links, one train change

• Ruifang: closest town with beds and the junction for the line

• Jiufen: hillside views, steps everywhere, crowded in the afternoon ⁶

Tip: If you stay in Taipei, buy the return ticket before the release begins and aim for the first train after the first wave, not the last wave.

Signal on the Pingxi Line is patchy in the valley and weak when the crowd arrives, and a 2026 guide warns that cell signals are unreliable in crowds ¹. If you rely on roaming or a Wi-Fi hotspot, expect slow maps and failed message uploads once a wave launches at Shifen Sky Lantern Square.

A Taiwan eSIM is the simplest way to avoid hunting for roaming settings, and you can install it before you leave home so the data works as soon as you land. See the Taiwan eSIM page for plans. Whatever you choose, download the Pingxi District area in an offline map first, because tunnels, the narrow valley and the crowd all cut the signal at different points.

A sensible routine is to load the train timetable, your hotel address and your meeting point before you leave Ruifang, and then use data mainly for messages and photographs. Public Wi-Fi at stations is rarely strong enough when thousands arrive together. Keep brightness low, switch to airplane mode between photographs, and carry a power bank of at least a full charge for the evening, because cold air shortens battery life.

• Install the eSIM before the flight and test it at home

• Download offline maps of Pingxi District, Ruifang and Jiufen

• Screenshot the return timetable and your accommodation address

• Send location pins to your group before the first wave

Note: Mobile payments need a data connection to approve, and many stalls prefer cash ¹, so carry both.