Glen Downton, Yanhui Beehive Fireworks Festival (PEOPLE 2026)

The combination of heavy rain and the smoke from thousands and thousands of fireworks (the remains of some can be seen in the foreground) give this street scene from Yanshui in south-west Taiwan a post-apocalyptic look. The Beehive Fireworks festival occurs on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year in Yanshui. Dozens of carts ("gun decks") are pushed around the streets of Yanshui. These are loaded with hundreds of bottle rockets each, and they are periodically set off in 10 minute bursts of pure mayhem.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.