Taiwan International Balloon Festival 2023

This year, the Taiwan International Balloon Festival will feature 43 balloons, surpassing the 30 balloons from the 2022 event, which saw a record crowd. This year’s event promises to even more extravagant and amazing.

Balloon Festival Information

The festival will start from June 30 and run through August 28. This year’s event will run for 60 days. It is one of the longest hot air balloon festivals in the world. During this time, the sky will be decorated with colorful and unique balloons from all around the world. For example, the will be a balloons depicting Sponge Bob, Hello Kitty, a Frog, British bulldogs, the Yakult yogurt from Japan, et cetera. Even the “TAZ” (Tasmanian Devil) balloon from the United States will make an appearance. There will also be music performances.

The event began on June 30th with a blast, featuring a light show and live performances.

Taiwan International Balloon Schedule

The Taiwan International Balloon Festival will feature 43 balloons from both local sponsors and international teams. The international teams comprise of Thailand, Mexico, United States, Canada, Japan, Brazil, United Kingdom, Czech, and even Ukraine. It seems that Brazil has invested heavily in this year’s event with 11 out of 43 balloons. Also, Japan will be highly featured with 6 balloons. Regardless of where you are from, the festival hopes to unite all cultures and build stronger international relations through the hot air balloons.

Festival Balloon Schedule.

Festival Address

The event is held at the Luye Highland, in Taitung County. The address is 955台東縣鹿野鄉.

Festival Venue Map.

How to Get There

By Train

From Kaohsiung, take the train for “Taitung Train Station” or the “Luye Train Station.” Then, take the East Rift Valley Line shuttle (8168A) to the venue at Luye Highland Station.

By Bus

Take the train to “Taitung Bus Station. Then, take the East Rift Valley Line shuttle (8168A) to the venue at Luye Highland Station.

Shuttle Schedule

The following are the shuttle fare and the timetable.

  • Taitung Bus Station to Luye Gaotai is 125 NTD
  • Taitung Train Station to Luye Gaotai 111 NTD
  • Luye Train Station Luye Gaotai 25 NTD

Fare and Timetable Source: https://www.taiwantrip.com.tw

Festival Shuttle Departure Schedule.
Festival Shuttle Return Schedule.
By car/scooter

From Kaohsiung, drive on Highway 9 to Taitung. At the Yongan Road/ East Rural Highway 33 intersection, turn left until you reach reach Gaotai Road, the venue for the festival. Good luck on finding parking.

Livestream

If you can’t make it to the Taiwan International Balloon Festival, you can watch it live.

2023 Kaohsiung City Christmas Celebrations and More

This year, there are three recommended places to celebrate Christmas. Kaohsiung City presents a market and performances. Also, Pingtung City presents Christmas lights, performances, and snow made from foam. Finally, the Wanjin Catholic Basilica holds its annual Christmas celebrations with lights and nativity scenes.

Pier-2 Art Center and Kaohsiung Music Center

Starting on Christmas day and going through New Year’s Eve, Kaohsiung City celebrations will be hosting a Christmas market and performances at these locations. On Christmas day, the mulled wine will be featured, which is a wine with added spices and served warm, to stay warm during the cold winter.

Christmas in Pingtung

Pingtung City features Christmas lights and snow. The innovative snow is made from foam…you just have to experience the unique show for yourself. It is held in the Pingtung Park, which is near the Pingtung train station. It is held every weekend until January 2nd, 2023.

Christmas Foreign Market

Pingtung is also hosting a foreign Christmas market that features cultural and exotic food and performances.

Wanjin Catholic Basilica

The Basilica, located in the Wanluan District of Pingtung holds annual Christmas lights and Nativity scenes. This is the first basilica in Taiwan and features one of the largest nativity scenes.

NYE 2023 Kaohsiung City

This year, Kaohsiung City will feature THREE fireworks festivals for the 2023 New Year’s celebrations.

Kaohsiung City is going all out to celebrate the 2023 New Year. There will not be 1, not 2, BUT…3 fireworks in Kaohsiung. The city will host two fireworks on New Year’s Eve at the Dream Mall and New Year’s Day at the Kaohsiung Music Center.

Dream Mall

The main fireworks for New Year’s Eve celebrations will be at the Dream Mall. The performances will start at 7pm and run through 1am. In fact, Kaohsiung’s mayor, Chen Chi-mai, is expected to make a presence and believes that Kaohsiung’s celebrations will be the biggest New Year’s Eve festival in all of Taiwan!

Source: FTV

The fireworks will go on for 180 seconds to ring in the new year. For the first time, there will be two stages, symbolizing Kaohsiung’s “Leaping Into the Future” theme. The stage will be at the intersection of the main crossroads of the Dream Mall. The stage will be at the Zhonghua 5th Road and Shidai Boulevard intersections, which is in front of the main entrance of the Dream Mall.

There are two ways to get there. The first is to take the MRT to the Kaisyuan Station and walk a short distance to the venue. The second method is to take the Light Rail, LRT, to the Dream Mall Station.

Kaohsiung Music Center

The 2023 New Year’s celebrations doesn’t end with the NYE fireworks. Amazingly, Kaohsiung City is hosting a second fireworks show at the Kaohsiung Music Center on Jan 1, 2023. The performances will start at 8pm.

E-Da Outlet Mall

The 2023 New Year’s Eve fireworks at the E-Da Outlet Mall will offer 999 seconds of fireworks, which is among the longest in all of Taiwan.

Additionally, the E-Da Ferris Wheel ride can be reserved during the peak night hours of 10:30pm through 12:30am.

Kaohsiung 2021 New Year’s Celebrations

Kaohsiung will be hosting the 2021 New Years in one of the biggest and best celebration in the history of Kaohsiung. The Dagang Bridge will be the site for the main stage with some of Taiwan’s most popular celebrities. Eda World will feature a 10-minute fireworks show. Finally, Cijin’s Sunset Bar offers party tents and fireworks!

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