鹽水烽炮，位於台南市鹽水區，由鹽水武廟主辦，所謂烽炮是指許多沖天炮組成的大型發炮台（狀如多管火箭炮組合），點燃時萬炮齊發，會發出鳴聲，稱「烽炮」。鹽水烽炮名列世界三大民俗慶典，享有「北天燈、南烽炮」的美名，是國內獨特的民間傳統民俗活動，於102年入選內政部「臺灣宗教百景」，並經交通部觀光局獲選104年至108年「台灣觀光年曆」 「台灣慶元宵─鹽水烽炮」國際級民俗活動，充分顯示烽炮體驗文化的在地性與國際性。鹽水區靠近海，多住以討海為生的漁民，一些移民來自中國，福建沿海，蜂炮的活動耆老推測起於清，光緒11年（1885年），當時瘟疫流行，居民基於民間習俗，向當地的「關聖帝君」（關公）祈求平安，並依請示結果，在元宵節晚上，請出鹽水鎮上的鎮南宮周倉爺[1]做開路先鋒官，關聖帝君殿後，一路燃放炮竹繞境。相傳清光緒年間鹽水發生大瘟疫，民眾祈求神蹟降臨，沿途燃放炮竹直至天明，遶境結束後，鹽水疫情就此消退，民眾感念神恩，每年元宵夜沿襲成例，演變為今日赫赫有名之蜂炮盛會。2000年前後，鹽水蜂炮已成為政府規劃的大型活動，並配合歷史和觀光將古時的街道復原，2006年台南縣政府就將鹽水區的三福路設成古炮街，串聯街上的商家用古法製作鞭炮，如竹捲炮、單管復古式煙火等。於2007年更以長達「13公里」的連珠炮火龍傳奇，希望挑戰新的金氏世界紀錄，但因同時點燃5條路線，且途中鞭炮熄滅1次，致使難以認定長度，因而無法如願創紀錄。2010年臺南縣市合併改制直轄市後，除了蜂炮外，鹽水亦同步舉辦月津港燈節，使得蜂炮與燈節成為鹽水特色。
座標 Coordination
N24 58.246 E121 32.579
The “Yanshuei (Yanshui) Beehive Fireworks” is ranked as the third largest folk celebration in the world and is one of the most representative religious events in all of Taiwan. With hundreds of thousands of firecrackers all going off at the same time, it is a cacophony like hundreds of thousands of bees streaming out of their hives. The event attracts huge numbers of onlookers every year and is paired with the “Pingxi Sky Lanterns” in describing Lantern Festival activities: “Sky lanterns in the north, beehive fireworks in the south.” Tradition has it that the “beehive fireworks” originated in July/August, 1885 as a cholera epidemic raged in the streets of Yanshuei. Owing to the underdeveloped state of medicine at the time, victims of the disease multiplied daily and the local population lived in fear, praying to Guan Di, the god of war, to bring an end to this calamity and save them. Thus on Lantern Festival evening, Guan Di appointed General Zhou Cang as his guide, with Guan Di’s palanquin bringing up the rear. Following the palanquin were multitudes of the faithful setting off firecrackers along the road, winding their way throughout the city until the break of dawn, ridding themselves of this plague in one fell swoop. From that time onward, future generations followed this precedent, asking Guan Di to patrol the streets on the evening of the Lantern Festival. The “Yanshuei Beehive Fireworks” event consists of a circuit around the outskirts of the town by palanquins, each symbolically armed to the teeth, with thousands of local inhabitants and visitors clustered around them as they slowly wind their way through the streets. When the line of palanquins comes up to the residential gate of a business, the lead one sets up a large or small “gun deck” (also called a “gun wall”) on the street and then lights the fuse. The “gun deck” consists of thousands of rockets that ignite all at the same time, creating a deafening, bee-like sound that fills the air as sparks fly in all directions. Every year the ear-splitting power of these rockets and the excitement that comes in their wake attract crowds of tourists from both Taiwan and abroad to come “rush the beehive barricades”! People believe the “baptism of fireworks” gets rid of calamity and troubles, sweeps away noxious influences and brings increasing good fortune in the new year.
cited from wiki, 交通部觀光局