Kaohsiung’s Halloween Moves to Weiwuying: 22-meter Pumpkin, 360-degree Light Show

Kaohsiung will stage its 2025 Halloween main events from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 at Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts [衛武營國家藝術文化中心], upgrading last year’s pumpkin spectacle to a 360-degree show and adding a Nov. 1 parade with giveaways.

By KHT AI Agent/Staff

KAOHSIUNG— Kaohsiung will turn its Halloween program into a three-day city attraction Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, shifting the main stage to Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts [衛武營國家藝術文化中心] in Fengshan District. The city says the show will be larger than last year’s launch at Aozihdi Forest Park [凹子底森林公園], with a 360-degree upgrade to the signature pumpkin light production and a joint parade on Nov. 1 with Leofoo Village’s Tombstone Town [六福村「墓碑鎮」].

New venue, bigger show

The main stage will rise on the Weiwuying grounds at No. 1, Sanduo 1st Road, offering a large lawn and direct Orange Line metro access at O10 Weiwuying station. City officials say the headline attraction returns as a 22-meter pumpkin first shown in 2024, now wrapped in a 360-degree light-and-laser sequence. A Nov. 1 parade will be co-produced with Leofoo Village’s Tombstone Town team, and the city plans to give out 10,000 inflatable wristbands on site to elevate crowd participation. Officials are urging visitors to use public transit.

Market and spinoff events

The Education Bureau says the Halloween program links with the Tourism Bureau’s “Wild Wild” lifestyle fair and Weiwuying’s “Ghosts Run the Stalls” market, aiming for 100-plus vendors to anchor a festival corridor across the park. The “Wild Wild” event, set for Nov. 1 to 2 on the Weiwuying park lawns, lists more than 60 food trucks, 30 outdoor brands, 20 luxury tents and 15 camper vans, with lounge tents priced at NT$3,600 per group.

Crowds tested the system last year

In 2024, the pumpkin debuted at Aozihdi Forest Park with nightly light shows. A single-night peak on Oct. 26 drew about 80,000 visitors, and Kaohsiung Metro shortened headways to as tight as three minutes. Some riders reported “sardine-like” crowding before flows normalized around 8 p.m. The program ended early on Oct. 29 due to Typhoon Koinu, with more than 200,000 visits tallied over five days. This year the city says it will apply playbook lessons from large concert operations to manage traffic and safety at Weiwuying.

What officials are saying

Mayor Chen Chi-mai [陳其邁] said the city would be fully prepared and deliver a better program. In 2024, Chen said the pumpkin “was taller than the Rubber Duck, reaching 22 meters.”

Impact

Why it matters

The shift to Weiwuying concentrates Halloween, a lifestyle fair and a city-backed market into one walkable zone, promising stronger footfall for vendors and clearer transit control. The 360-degree show and a branded parade raise the event’s profile, while last year’s crowding highlights the need for careful staging and real-time transport management.

Statistics

Zoom-out

Kaohsiung has steadily expanded Halloween into a fall marquee. The 2025 plan consolidates audience capacity, transit access and vendor density at Weiwuying, while the Wild Wild fair runs Nov. 1 to 2 as a picnic-and-camping counterpoint. The pairing creates a high-visibility weekend that blends family traffic, social-media tourism and late-night audiences in one district.