TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei 101 will fire off 16,000 fireworks over the course of 360 seconds for this year's New Year's Eve extravaganza, with 1 million onlookers expected to attend.
At a press conference on Tuesday (Dec. 21), Taipei 101 Chairman Chang Hsueh-shun (張學舜) announced that this year's show will again feature the "360-degree, three-dimensional, wheel-shaped, special effects fireworks" seen last year. The tower estimates that over 1 million visitors will witness the pyrotechnic display, with the influx of people at recent events returning to levels seen before the local outbreak in May of this year.
There will also be special heart-shaped and wing-shaped fireworks choreographed to Taiwanese folk music. An animated light display will also be featured on Taipei 101's giant T-Pad wall, a lighting system consisting of 140,000 LED lights on one side of the building's exterior from the 35th to 90th floors.
(Taipei 101 image)
Chang stated that the theme of the show is "Towards a better future." This theme was selected because people have felt depressed amid the pandemic of the past two years, he said, "and we hope that this New Year's Eve fireworks will convey a healing breath to the world."
Chang pointed out that the "101 Team" spent half a year planning the details of the fireworks. Recalling the initial planning, Chang said that Taiwan was still dealing with a local outbreak, and it was not easy to raise funds.
(Taipei 101 image)
He gave special thanks to the Tourism Bureau, the Taiwan Stock Exchange, CTBC Bank, Changhwa Telecom, and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation for their donations. He added that the 10 sponsors of the show also include I-Mei Foods, Foodpanda, NCSOFT, KIA, and the Hakka Affairs Council.
The six-minute show will be divided into four chapters, including "Caring for the world, praying for mankind, embracing happiness, and a better future." During this third chapter, the heart will appear to convey the idea of "sharing the world together."
(Taipei 101 image)
