Taichung Cultural Festival Kicks Off with Millet Dragon and Traditional Wedding Experiences

By Liu Jiawen, compiled and reported

Want to experience the unique food and fun culture of Taichung’s communities all in one go? The “2011 Taichung City Community Culture Festival and Treasure Mobilization” event is being held from now until December 10 (Saturday), featuring community static achievement exhibitions, theater performances, cultural and creative product displays, and community documentary film screenings. The main activities will kick off tomorrow (December 3) at the Taichung Cultural and Creative Industries Park (formerly the Taichung Old Winery), where various communities will take turns putting on vibrant stage performances. There will also be free interactive experiences such as creative community crafts and local delicacies, including rush doll weaving, mouth harp making, trying out traditional ancient wedding customs with bridal headdress and robes, DIY city god figurines, sampling bitter tea oil noodles, Hakka traditional foods, and a sweet persimmon feast—giving participants a taste of the area’s diverse cultural charm.

In addition, the “Treasure” exhibitions from various communities are also a highlight of this cultural festival. For example, the nearly lost traditional craft of the “Millet Dragon,” created by master Chen Mingchang, who uses rice as the material and sculpts the dragon entirely by hand. The Millet Dragon was used in rural land-breaking ceremonies to “appease the dragon and thank the gods” for protecting the locality. The difficulty of the Millet Dragon lies in the fact that the technique cannot be recorded visually and is only passed down orally from master to apprentice, making it an extremely precious piece of Taiwan’s traditional folk art. Meanwhile, Chen Lianyuan, the sponge gourd brush expert from Shenjhou Community in Shengang, uses creative ingenuity to cut and patch dried loofah sponges into vivid works such as the 12 zodiac animals, hats, and lampshades. There are also exhibits like the high-legged granaries of the Atayal people and traditional straw weaving from Baoshan Community.

This event combines the diverse cultural characteristics of Taichung’s mountainous, coastal, urban, and downtown areas, bringing together a rich variety of community treasures—totaling 45 types and 2,300 pieces of community crafts and food on display—using these warm old memories to bring new inspiration to the public.