The Sun Moon Lake International Swimming Carnival is an open-water swimming event held on Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County around the Mid-Autumn Festival each year. Launched in 1983, the 3-kilometer swim now draws tens of thousands of participants and is ranked among the world's top open-water swims.
For 364 days of the year, Sun Moon Lake keeps its swimmers out.
Unusually for Taiwan, swimming in Sun Moon Lake is normally prohibited, which makes this carnival the one day the lake is legally opened to mass open-water swimming, drawing swimmers specifically for that rare access
The event is listed among the Top 50 Open Water Swims in Asia and the Top 100 Open Water Swims of the World, and it is open to any swimmer over age 10 regardless of nationality, making it genuinely international rather than a competitive elite-only race
The carnival's timing around the Mid-Autumn Festival links a modern sporting event to one of the Chinese lunar calendar's major traditional holidays
and its one-day exception to the lake's normal no-swimming rule reflects the lake's status as sacred and ecologically protected territory of the Thao Indigenous people
whose homeland surrounds the lake and its island of Lalu
Dates TBA · Usually September
For Sun Moon Lake International Swimming Carnival, plan transport around the exact Sun Moon Lake venue, route or gathering point rather than the city name alone.
Swimwear appropriate for open-water swimming (wetsuits are commonly worn given the lake's elevation and cooler water), with warm, dry clothing for before and after the swim given the lake's...
Keep valuables light, set a meeting point, and give processions room to move.
For Sun Moon Lake International Swimming Carnival, stay near the part of Sun Moon Lake you will actually use, with reliable return transport.
Many carnival moments are public, but confirm paid areas or stands before travel.
["zh-Hant"] · TWD
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Sun Moon Lake International Swimming Carnival is listed for September · Autumn. Always re-check the official or local source close to travel.
The festival is listed in Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan. The map coordinate is a planning reference, not a guarantee of a ticket gate or exact venue.
Autumn is the listed festival span. Add time for arrival, local transport, queues, and any route changes during the event.
Needs editorial review. Eventisimus separates source confidence from travel suggestions, so check final details before booking.
Sun Moon Lake, Nantou, Taiwan
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