A 22-meter-tall rabbit will serve as the centerpiece of the two-week Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taipei that celebrates the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac, the Tourism Bureau said Tuesday.
The main display of the 2023 festival, a robot rabbit designed by artist Akibo Lee (???), can be seen from Feb. 5 to 19 at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall — one of the festival’s four display zones — two weeks after the Year of the Rabbit begins on Jan. 22.
Inspired by Taiwan’s leading role in the global semiconductor industry, several technologies will be deployed to showcase the 22-meter-tall structure, the bureau said.
They include a musical theme by Golden Melody Award winner George Chen (???) and performance capture techniques that will enable the rabbit to emulate the facial expressions of Olympic gold medalist Kuo Hsing-chun (???).
Besides the main display, visitors to this year’s festival, themed “Light Up the Future,” will find rabbits in lanterns and in rabbit-eared headgear, the bureau said.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (???) noted that Taiwan’s main lantern festival has not been held in Taipei since 2001, and he urged people to visit the city and enjoy some of the more than 200 stage performances that have been arranged as part of the festivities.
Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (???) said he hoped the festival would bring hope and blessings to Taiwan in the new year.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel