1. Keelung Mid-Summer Ghost Festival — Taiwan's Grandest Ghost Month Spectacle
Date: Month-long through the seventh lunar month, peaking on the full moon — Thursday, August 27, 2026 — with the water-lantern parade among the signature nights. The detailed 2026 program has not yet been officially released; confirm on the Keelung tourism site closer to the date.
Price: Free to watch. Trains and buses from Taipei are inexpensive.
Location: Keelung City — about 40 minutes north of Taipei by train or bus. Main events center on Zhongzheng Park and the harbor waterfront.
Scale
Running since 1855, this is the largest and most storied ghost festival in Taiwan. Over the month it moves through opening ceremonies, the lighting of lanterns, and — its most famous moment — the release of illuminated "water lanterns" that float out to guide wandering spirits home.
What it brings to you
The glowing water-lantern parade and release along the harbor.
Traditional processions, temple ceremonies, and street offerings.
A rare, respectful look at how Taiwan honors the dead — solemn and spectacular at once.
What this means
Ghost Month is when Taiwan's folk beliefs step into full public view, and Keelung is the place to see it at scale. For a visitor it is a night unlike anything else on the summer calendar: part memorial, part street festival, entirely local.
Notes & Tips
Take the train or a Kuo-Kuang bus from Taipei; go early evening and stay for the lantern release after dark.
During Ghost Month, locals avoid swimming, moving house, and late-night wandering — worth knowing as context, not as something to fear.
Official reference: Taiwan Tourism Administration — Keelung Mid-Summer Ghost Festival · Keelung Culture & Tourism Bureau
