I’m planning to go again this year. I haven’t heard about any type of postponements due to corona.
I have heard it is cancelled. Can’t provide a source though
Seems cancelled for now.
2021年鹽水蜂炮暫停活動
台南市政府1/19宣布因疫情關係停辦活動
舉辦地點：鹽水武廟
舉辦時間：2021年2月25日(星期四)繞行鎮外(暫停活動)
~2021年2月26日(星期五)繞行鎮內(暫停活動)
主辦單位：鹽水武廟
Here’s a link the last one I attended if anyone’s interested.
Is that the one where everyone turns up in Full Face Crash Helmets and clothes that are often disposed of after a few have landed on them?
Well they shoot bottle rockets at you.
Make sure you wear only cotton clothings at such events. When polyester or any othey synthetic fiber catches on fire they melt, causing further injury. Cotton however dont do that.
Yup and gloves… I thought it would be safe from cancellation 
Apparently the “Bombarding Han Dan” Festival in Taitung has been canceled too. I’m surprised they have that much sense.
Good news! They are reconsidering the cancellation if the Yanshui event. In a couple of days we will have a definite answer so cross your fingers.
Where can we check for updates?
So far, it is a maybe.
It won’t be open to the public.
When they say tourists can watch from outside, will there actually be anything to watch? How about the lantern part?
The canons going off I guess. But not all tourists can watch. Temple folk can participate. Others have to register before the 22 and when the 26 comes, they will take pictures for the general public to enjoy. Weird.
Did not see any mention of lanterns.
I’ve been a couple times. There are separate parts.
- Fireworks beehives (wagons loaded with bottle rocket type fireworks) that roam around town lighting off in different locations.
- A big beehive and fireworks finale inside a fenced in sports field of a school.
Not really any lanterns except for the ones that normally hang around temples.
I think most places will not have a proper Lantern Festival. There is a sort of drive-in lantern show in Miaoli, and a really cool lighting installation show in Hsinchu, but AFAIK most are still cancelled.
At least we can still eat yuan xiao.
They are calling it a mini Yanshui, but at least it took place… carefully. See the papers tomorrow for pics.
And so, “in order to show respect to the gods”, Tainan city council and Yanshui Wu Miao temple decided to keep it going, scaled down.
My little ones taught me that typing 平安 or 元宵節快樂 in a LINE chat will give you a virtual Lantern Festival. Still works, as of 01:00 am 2/27. Pretty nice, worth a try. I like those LINE “Easter eggs.”
Same in Taitung. Han Dan parade is still cancelled, but some firecrackers being set off and decorated trucks from some temples still driving around.