Traveling around Taiwan with "ghost eyes"? Fenglin's "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" kicks off with playful hype

▲ Hualien Fenglin Township 2013 "Lost in Tobacco Barns: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" masks (Photo provided by the Beilin San Village Community Development Association)

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

2013"Lost in Tobacco Barns: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons"was a huge hit, and this year they've specially increased the number of haunted houses built from tobacco barns to three, while also inviting many performance groups to put on shows, aiming to make this year's event even more exciting than last year's. To promote tourism in Fenglin Township, Hualien County, the Beilin Community has recruited ten university students to embark on a one-week "Eyeball Ghosts, Let's Go!" island-wide tour, which will also include a stop at Nantou's Monster Village to exchange tokens, using this island tour to build hype for the haunted houses set to launch in August.

Li Meiling, the initiator of the event and General Secretary of Hualien County Community College, said, "The most popular haunted house last year has been expanded to three this year, and this year's 'ghost painting' design competition entries will also be displayed. Japanese taiko drums and our samba drums will both perform in competitions."

The Beilin Community of Fenglin Township, Hualien County, has recruited ten university students to travel around the island wearing "ghost eyeballs." The planned six-day journey will involve taking photos of people's eyeballs, collecting 1,000 to create a giant "I SEE" billboard. Additionally, they will specifically visit Nantou County's Monster Village, stringing together styrofoam eyeballs into meatball-shaped tokens to exchange with the monsters there.

▲ Traveling the island with eyeballs (left photo), breaking taboos during the lunar ghost month. Calling on everyone to wear masks and join the ghost parade (right photo), Fenglin's "Lost in Tobacco Barns: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" promotes with playful antics. (Photo provided by the Beilin San Village Community Development Association)

In Japan, the "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" is a folk legend about a summer night procession of monsters, where people dress as ghosts and scatter beans to ward off misfortune and attract good luck. To promote tourism, the Beilin Community is breaking the taboos of the lunar ghost month and will holda spooky event on August 10, inviting the public to join the ghost parade.

Li Meiling said that Fenglin Township’s Beilin Community is a post-war Japanese immigrant village that still maintains a traditional rural character, with numerous tobacco barns in the area. By combining local features with Japanese folklore, they have designed a series ofspooky activities,includinga "ghost painting" design competition,with entries also on display during the event.

Clips from Fenglin's 2012 "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons"