Taipei Lantern Festival 2026 Ximending to Feature Pop Mart Labubu

Taipei’s Lantern Festival will bring a pop-culture twist to Ximending this year with a Pop Mart collaboration that places Labubu among the marquee characters on show. Mayor Chiang Wan-an formally announced the Ximending theme as a partnership with Pop Mart and suggested the line-up is aimed at families and trend followers.

“I would like to officially announce the theme for the exhibition area in Ximending. It’s a collab with the world’s biggest toy company Pop Mart. Last week I asked my oldest kid to teach me about the six characters. I can already tell that for this year’s Lantern Festival, my two younger kids will be asking me to take them to both of the exhibition areas,” Chiang said, underlining the family appeal of the displays.

FTV preview copy names the main Ximen lantern as an 8-meter-tall Baby Molly and lists other Pop Mart IPs headed for Ximending: Skullpanda, Dimoo, and “the world-famous Labubu.” FTV also frames the exhibition as crowd-friendly, saying, “The exhibition area is sure to be a hit with trend chasers.” That pop-brand focus sits alongside a more traditional blockbuster at the festival’s Yuanshan exhibition area, which centers on a Transformers theme with Optimus Prime as the star protagonist.

Organizers list the festival launch and opening ceremony on 26 February 2026, with the exhibition running through 15 March 2026. Display hours are scheduled for weekdays 17:00–22:00 and Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays 14:00–22:00. Live stage programming at Yuanshan will run Fridays through Sundays from 19:00–21:00. The event is free to visit and has a long history as Taipei’s major Lunar New Year celebration, staged annually since 1997 and updated in recent years with IP lanterns, friendship exchange lanterns, theme lanterns and brand lanterns.

Practical details matter for visitors: Taiwanderers notes the festival typically welcomes over a million visitors each year and that there are usually 20 to 30 large-scale illuminations. Ximending displays sit parallel to the entertainment district and are easily reached from Ximen or Beimen MRT stations; Yuanshan-area installations are near Yuanshan MRT Station. Past festival layouts have included footbridges converted into tunnels of light that become popular selfie spots, often with short queues.

For collectors and casual visitors alike, the Ximending Pop Mart show promises photo ops and character spotting while Yuanshan’s Transformers offering provides a counterpoint for different crowd flows. Expect heavy foot traffic on weekend nights; go earlier on Saturdays and Sundays or visit weekdays for a calmer experience. The festival’s mix of high-tech production and brand IPs signals that Taipei is aiming to serve families, trend chasers and toy collectors all at once.