Tainan: At least 47 people were injured this week in Lantern Festival-related folk events in Tainan and Taitung, in which participants formed processions and braved dense barrages of bottle rockets or firecrackers.
According to Focus Taiwan, at the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival in Tainan, which took place on Monday and Tuesday, a total of 36 people suffered injuries, including six stemming from falls, the city's Bureau of Civil Affairs told CNA.
The other 30 injured people suffered burns after being hit by dense barrages of bottle rockets - which are said to be reminiscent of bees swarming out of a hive - including one who was treated in a hospital for burns on their neck and fingers, the bureau said.
The Yanshui Beehive Festival, a tradition with over 100 years of history, is held on the 14th and 15th days of the first month of the lunar calendar to celebrate the Lantern Festival.
After starting at the Yanshui Wu Temple, the festival's procession is divided into several routes covering different areas of Yanshui, with approximately 200 firecracker sets awaiting participants along the way.
The exploding firecrackers are believed to help ward off bad luck and misfortune, and being struck by them symbolizes the end of ill fortune and the arrival of blessings for the year ahead.