This can be seen in particular in the 1996 announcement by then county commissioner Yu Shyi-kun that Ilan would prepare to be an "orchid blooming for 200 years" by the year 2000. The "Children's Dreamland" -one major theme of that project-was the origin of the festival.
尤其是 1996 年，當時的縣長游錫 $ 宣布，西元 2000 年宜蘭決定籌辦盛大的《開蘭兩百年》系列慶祝活動，其中一個重要主軸「兒童的夢土」，就是童玩節的由來。