Ruifang Torch Festival (瑞芳火把節)
I met up with a friend and we took the train over towards Ruifang the train is relatively easy to take but you would really have to take note of the departure time and the train number. It took us around 59TWD one way and the journey is within an hour.
It started drizzling for a bit when we’re there, however, it isn’t enough to even put out the fiery passion of Ruifang. The event is still burning strong.
Apparently, we do have to queue for a ticket to get a “torch” and the queuing actually started for the afternoon. However seeing us as foreigners, the organizers actually are kind enough to offer us each a torch and eventually, we joined the whole town in the 28th wave.
We kickstarted the night with the fireworks after the sunset, where explosive of different colors lit up the skies. It is not grand, but however, the small humble sparks tickled a bit of my heartstring as I saw the fireworks blast away in between the beautiful architecture of the town.
The wave started moving in and one by the locals started sharing the flames, lighting up the town little by little. And the town grew a little brighter as we go.
We started to move in a herd where we started to hike up to towards the finishing point with the lighted torch in our hands.
It might seem like nothing much, but however, this simple act/event is truly heartwarming as we have locals setting up tentages to give out food and water, dancing and cheering us on!
We looped back down to outside Ruifang main station, where we went to get food and watched the amazing circus-like pyromaniac stunts performed by the locals.
I was previously truly surprised as most locals (in Taipei) haven’t heard of the event, and this event is truly local and “inner-circle” only as it’s considered to be in New Taipei City. And this festival truly deserves a shoutout as not only I really had a good time, but also the festive ambiance is truly one of a kind, as people with all different stories marching up the hills with a torch, lighting up the entire Ruifang.
It is a little hard to find out more information about this event, but however, they have a Facebook page should you need to ask any question. I’m sure they are more than happy to help! And trust me, it is truly worth the chase for this festive event.
Name: Ruifang Sweet Home Torch Festival
Address: No. 82, Section 3, Mingdeng Road, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, 224
(Website)
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