Quick Answer: When Are the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks?
Yanshui Beehive Fireworks (鹽水蜂炮, Yánshuǐ Fēngpào) is a Tainan tradition centered on the Lantern Festival (元宵節, Yuánxiāo Jié), the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Its program combines a temple procession with fireworks. The published dates can include the day before the festival. [1][2]
- Place: The organizer is Yanshui Martial Temple (鹽水武廟, Yánshuǐ Wǔmiào). [1][2][3]
- 2026 example: Tainan scheduled the event for March 2 and 3. March 3 was the Lantern Festival. [2][4]
- Local meaning: Worshippers honor Guan Yu (關羽, Guān Yǔ) as the deity Guan Di and pray for protection and peace. [1][2]
Check the year’s program for the procession and the main public display. They are listed separately. [2][3]
The central figure at Yanshui is the temple’s statue of Guan Di, carried through town in a covered palanquin. Firecrackers and fireworks mark its passage. The procession recalls a local story in which residents asked the deity to protect their town during an epidemic. [1][2]
The Lunar Date and Tainan’s Event Schedule
The fifteenth day of lunar month one anchors the celebration. In 2026, Tainan City recorded the opening at Martial Temple square on March 2 and scheduled the temple procession over March 2 and 3. The city listed the main public display at Yanshui Junior High School on the second evening. [1][2][4]
The Taiwan Lantern Festival also opened on March 3 in 2026. Its program ran through March 15 in Chiayi County. A listing for that event gives different dates and venues from the Yanshui procession. [3][4]
Why the Procession Honors Guan Di
A widely told local story places an epidemic in Yanshui in 1885. Residents appealed to Guan Di, the deified Guan Yu, and carried his statue through the streets. In the story, firecrackers accompanied the procession and the epidemic ended. Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior records several origin accounts. The epidemic story explains the ritual’s association with protection. [1]
The Ministry describes the beehive displays as a development after World War II, building on an earlier custom of setting off firecrackers around the palanquin. Their name refers to the swarm-like appearance of many fireworks going off close together. The procession and requests for peace give the modern displays their local setting. [1][2]
How Yanshui Marks the Festival in Public
The temple procession moves along designated routes through town, with residents and worshippers receiving the palanquin. Tainan lists the moving procession and the public display at a fixed venue as different parts of the program. The procession brings the palanquin through the neighborhoods; the display gathers spectators at a site named in the city announcement. [1][2]
Because fireworks are part of the procession and display, Tainan’s fire department issues separate event guidance. It calls for protective equipment and posts safety staff around the event. Visitors should use current city and temple guidance for viewing locations and follow directions on site. [3][5]
FAQs About Yanshui Beehive Fireworks
Is this a Lantern Festival event?
Yes. The Lantern Festival provides the lunar date. The temple and city publish the full Yanshui program, which can begin a day earlier. [1][2][4]
Who is Guan Di?
Guan Di is a title of the deified Guan Yu. The temple’s festival procession takes his statue through Yanshui in a palanquin. [1][2]
出典
[1] Taiwan Ministry of the Interior. Yanshui Beehive Rockets
[2] Tainan City Government. Opening of the 2026 Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival
[3] Tainan City Government. 2026 Yanshui Beehive Fireworks City Report
[4] Tainan City Information and International Relations Department. 2026 Yanshui and Lantern Festival Announcement
[5] Tainan City Fire Department. 2026 Lantern Festival Fire Department Guidance