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June 4th Vigil
SINCE 1989 · Remembered Every Year · Passing the Torch
6·4
Tiananmen Square Memorial Vigil
TIANANMEN SQUARE MEMORIAL VIGIL
— May 1989, Beijing: a young man cycling toward Tiananmen, answering a foreign reporter
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Largest Global Vigil Since 2020
Largest Gathering in the World
After 2020, when Hong Kong's June 4th vigil was banned, the memorial vigil organized by the New School for Democracy in Taiwan became the largest June 4th commemoration event in the world by attendance, drawing people from all walks of life together in remembrance every year.
* Since Hong Kong's June 4th candlelight vigil ended in 2020
About the Vigil

About the June 4th Memorial Series

Around June 4th every year, the New School for Democracy Association holds a series of commemorative events in Taiwan, bringing together friends from Taiwan and abroad who care about democracy and freedom to jointly mourn the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident and carry forward a history that must not be forgotten.

After 2020, the implementation of Hong Kong's National Security Law forced the Victoria Park candlelight vigil to end. Taiwan's June 4th memorial vigil has since become the June 4th commemoration with the largest attendance in the world, carrying even greater expectations and responsibility.

We light candles not only to mourn, but to say "no" to authoritarianism — and to tell everyone still living in fear: you are not alone.

Our Timeline
Key Milestones
1989
The Tiananmen Incident
On June 4th, Chinese troops crushed the democracy movement, and thousands of innocent lives were lost.
2020
Hong Kong's Candlelight Vigil Banned
After the National Security Law took effect, the Hong Kong Alliance was forced to disband, and the candles of Victoria Park were lit no more.
2020–Present
Taiwan Takes Up the Torch as the World's Largest Vigil
The June 4th memorial vigil organized by the New School for Democracy in Taiwan has become the largest June 4th commemoration in the world, bringing together voices from everywhere each year.
Every June
Passing the Torch, Year After Year
Lectures, art exhibitions, and the memorial vigil — three ongoing programs that keep this history from being forgotten.
Series of Events

Three-Part Program

Every June, three programs together present historical memory, artistic reflection, and collective mourning.

🎙️
Lecture
Part 01
Lecture
Memory must be understood before it can be passed on. Every June, we invite historians, democracy activists, and those who lived through the events to draw on first-hand testimony and research to explore the historical context of the 1989 Tiananmen incident, its impact over the more than three decades since, and what this history teaches Taiwan and the world's democratic societies today, as transnational repression grows more severe.
1 talk in total
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🎨
Exhibition
Part 02
Art Exhibition
Some memories can't be put into words — art can carry them. Through painting, photography, printmaking, installation, and other media, this exhibition presents historical records and contemporary interpretations of June 4th — from Tiananmen Square to the streets of Hong Kong, from an exile's luggage to a candlelight vigil. Artists use their work as a medium so that wounds too painful to speak of can be seen, felt, and remembered.
“Return to the Site of Resistance” — 37th Anniversary June 4th Art Exhibition
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🕯️
Candlelight Vigil
Part 03
Memorial Vigil
Every year on the evening of June 4th, thousands of people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, and around the world gather together, candles in hand, to mourn the dead of 1989 through testimony, music, and 64 seconds of silence — and to stand with those still persecuted today for pursuing freedom. Since Hong Kong's Victoria Park vigil was banned in 2020, Taiwan has carried the candlelight forward, becoming the largest June 4th memorial gathering in the world.
Event Archive

Past Events

Each year's vigil is a powerful answer to authoritarian silence.

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Candles arranged to form "6・4"
Candles forming "6・4"
Lilies and candlelight
Candlelight carrying our grief
White chrysanthemums offered
White chrysanthemums offered in memory of the fallen

Safeguarding Historical Memory Together

Your support lets us light candles year after year, keeping the memory of June 4th alive and the flame of democracy burning.

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