Taiwanese celebrate the world’s most dangerous fireworks festival
The Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival, held on the 15th day after the beginning of the Lunar New Year in Tainan City, Taiwan, is an annual tradition that has been celebrated for more than 130 years.
Participants in Yanshui District gear up with motorcycle helmets, fire-retardant clothing and thick gloves to prepare for the hundreds of thousands of firecrackers that go off at the same time.
According to Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau, the “beehive fireworks” festival started in 1885 as a request to the gods to spare Yanshui from a cholera outbreak, which was making its way through the villages.
Future generations followed this tradition, and this year, 40 beehive firecrackers were placed around the city, each firing 600,000 shots, as the Taiwanese believe the “baptism of fireworks” gets rid of calamity and troubles while bringing good fortune in the new year. (Getty Images)
Photography by Billy H.C. Kwok/Getty Images
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