Everyone’s at the Sunflower Student Movement? Attendance at the Kenting Spring Music Festival Plummets

▲Attendance at the 2014 Kenting Spring Music Festival was lower than expected. The photo shows this year’s Spring Wave Music Festival. (Photo / Courtesy ofSpring Wave Music Festival fan page)

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

The Kenting Spring Music Festival wrapped up last weekend, but due to factors such as the Sunflower Student Movement, the organizers had originally expected to attract over 200,000 visitors, yet only about 120,000 showed up.

This year’s Kenting Spring Music Festival was “a hit in quality but not in quantity.” Although both the Spring Scream and Spring Wave lineups were strong—featuring mega-band Mayday and even “Sister” Jolin Tsai making her music festival debut, plus the Bubble Party headlining in Kenting—the ongoing Sunflower Student Movement led many passionate young men and women to choose instead to head north during the long holiday to show support, resulting in only 60% of the expected turnout. The shopping vibe on Kenting Street was also less lively compared to previous years.

Local business owners noted,This year, aside from a rise in participation at the Bubble Party and steady attendance at the Kenting Spring Scream, other events saw significant drops in crowd numbers, making the atmosphere somewhat subdued. But it’s not just due to the student movement—slightly higher ticket prices and poor weather also played a part.

Additionally, with the nationwide smoking ban in national parks and scenic areas now in effect, the Pingtung County Health Bureau stepped up enforcement. In just four days of the Kenting Spring Music Festival, 30 fines of NT$2,000 each were issued, seven of which were given to foreigners—marking the highest number of smoking fines ever issued in Pingtung County.