The 2017 Taiwan Lantern Festival, which will be held Feb. 11-19 in the western county of Yunlin, will include pavilions highlighting the cultures of five Southeast Asian countries, according to the county government.

Yunlin County Magistrate Lee Chin-yung said Jan. 8 at a cultural event for new immigrant families that the pavilions will showcase lanterns and traditions from Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. This will mark the first time a section on Southeast Asian cultures has been included in the annual festival.

The five pavilions will be connected by a 100-meter-long water feature symbolizing the Mekong River that runs through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, Kapuas River in Indonesia, Chao Phraya River in Thailand and Cagayan River in the Philippines, the county government said. Floating paper lanterns will also be released along the water feature at specific intervals in recognition of the prominent custom in the region, it added.

Noting that there are more than 500,000 new immigrants in Taiwan, Lee invited new immigrant families as well as foreign nationals to visit the lantern festival, saying that the pavilions demonstrate the county government’s respect for new residents as well as its efforts to promote greater cultural awareness and understanding.

Also speaking at the event, Legislator Liu Chien-kuo of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party said that these efforts are in line with the New Southbound Policy, a central plank of President Tsai Ing-wen’s national development strategy. Under the initiative, the government is working to deepen agriculture, business, education, tourism and trade ties between Taiwan and Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.

Launched in Taipei City in 1990, the Taiwan Lantern Festival has been staged in a different location every year since 2001 so as to allow the nation’s cities and counties to exhibit their unique characteristics.

The 2017 Taiwan Lantern Festival will be held at venues in three areas of Yunlin County spanning a total of 51 hectares. County officials said they expect the event to generate 10 million visits and NT$8 billion (US$247.8 million) to NT$10 billion in tourism revenue. (KWS-E)

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