Taichung Traditional Arts Festival: Catch Spectacular Performances Across Shanshui Tun Districts

By Liu Jiawen, compiled and reported

Now in its 8th year, the Taichung Traditional Arts Festival officially kicked off at 7:00 PM on Sunday (the 12th) at the Grand Theater of Wenxin Forest Park. Throughout the festival, 26 performing groups such as the Hongsheng Lion Dance Troupe, Chunmei Opera Troupe, and Jiutian Folklore & Skills Troupe will take turns performing. This year’s event will expand to cover the mountainous, coastal, and urban (Shan, Hai, Tun) districts of Taichung. Performances will also be held on the 18th and 19th at the Port Art Center, on the 25th and 26th at the Huludun Cultural Center, and on March 3rd at the Dongshi Hakka Cultural Park, ensuring audiences from different areas can enjoy a diverse array of traditional performances including opera, dance, and folk art.

The opening event on Sunday will feature collaborative performances between well-known pop singers and traditional arts troupes. Among them, the Hongsheng Lion Dance Troupe will present a special “Lightning Dragon” show in sync with the closing night of the Taichung Lantern Festival. When the lights go out, a 15-meter-long luminescent dragon will come alive with vivid, dynamic movements. There will also be stunning performances by the Sea Breeze Band, Okinawa no Kokoro, and the Taipei Extreme Drumming Ensemble. On February 18th and 19th at the Port Art Center, the Chunmei Opera Troupe—which starred in the film “Dragon & Phoenix Dance”—and the five-generation Wuzhouyuan Glove Puppet Troupe will perform back-to-back.

At the Huludun Cultural Center on February 25th and 26th, performances will be given by the Longyi Pavilion Glove Puppet Troupe, Hehe Art Studio, as well as the Xinxing Elementary School Children’s Taiwanese Opera Troupe and Shangshi Elementary School Diabolo Team, all of which carry on the legacy of traditional arts. The venue will also host a Traditional Arts Market featuring sugar painting, vintage toys, ocarina sales, and daily free traditional arts workshops where attendees can sign up on-site to try DIY activities such as making dough figurines, bamboo-copter toys, and pinwheels. The closing performance of the Traditional Arts Festival will take place on March 3rd at the Dongshi Hakka Cultural Park, headlined by the internationally acclaimed Jiutian Folklore & Skills Troupe and the Taiwan Academy of Traditional Theatre’s Variety Troupe. For detailed event information, please visit the Taichung City Government Cultural Affairs Bureau website: www.culture.taichung.gov.tw.

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