Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

The Department of Civil Affairs (DCA) held a press conference on January 25 to announce this year’s miniature lantern for the upcoming 2010 Taipei Lantern Festival “HoKi”. The annual lantern giveaway will start on February 25.
Lantern giveaway sessions will take place starting at 2 PM (from February 25 through 28) at the Renai Road entrance of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
In addition, residents can also pick up HoKi lanterns at the giveaway counter located at the main entrance of city hall on February 27 and 28, respectively.
Each individual is limited to one miniature lantern. However, Mayor Hau Lung-bin pointed out that those bringing two uniform-invoices for the 2010 January-February period could receive an additional HoKi miniature lantern.
All uniform-invoice received will be donated to charity groups to help those in need.
Hau noted that the miniature lanterns issued by the city government is very popular among residents. This year, with the help of many private sponsors, DCA was able to prepare 200,000 HoKi lanterns and will be giving them away over a 3-day period.
He took the opportunity to express his gratitude to the private sponsors including Taipower, Fubon Financial Holding, First Financial Holding, Huanan Financial Holding, and Want Want Cultural and Educational Foundation.
The 2010 Taipei International Festival will take place between February 26 and March 7 at city hall and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. There will also be a “Tunnel of Light” extending all the way to the Renai Traffic Circle. For more information, please visit the Chinese website at: http://www.taipei-festival2010.com