2026 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival – Awakening Realm

The 2026 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival, held in the Year of the Horse, adopts “Heavenly Horses in Motion” as its annual theme. Building upon this imagery, the curatorial team shifted the focus back to the origins of nature and civilization, proposing “Awakening Realm (Jingzhe Realm)” as a thematic response. Jingzhe, one of the 24 solar terms, marks the moment when all living things are awakened by the first spring thunder. It symbolizes the end of dormancy and the activation of life, resonating with the cultural significance of the Lantern Festival as the conclusion of the Lunar New Year and a prelude to the arrival of spring.
“Awakening Realm” takes immersive environmental experience as its curatorial highlight. Departing from the conventional lantern festival format that centers on individual installations as viewing focal points, the exhibition instead constructs a continuous spatial narrative that guides visitors along an experiential route. Through the integration of spatial planning, installation art, lighting and sound effects, and ambient soundscapes, the curatorial team creates an otherworldly environment that can be walked through, surrounded, and perceived, allowing visitors to naturally enter the narrative as they move.
The exhibition is structured around the narrative of “exploring a lost civilization,” combining imagery of rainforests, ecology, and ruins. Visitors experience a journey between the awakening of nature and the disappearance of civilization. As the route progresses, the atmosphere gradually shifts from quiet and mysterious to increasingly bright, symbolizing the process of awakening associated with the Jingzhe solar term, while also echoing the Year of the Horse imagery of motion, activation, and forward momentum. The immersive design not only enhances audience engagement but also allows seasonal culture, blessing rituals, and sustainability themes to be seamlessly embedded within the experience.
“Awakening Realm” is the only outdoor, scenario-based immersive exhibition of its kind in Taiwan. The design team sought to integrate light, craftsmanship, and storytelling, hoping that visitors would not merely stand and view lanterns, but truly step into each scene as if entering a cinematic environment.