Written/Compiled & Reported by Liu Jiawen
This Saturday is Christmas Eve—have you decided where to go? On December 24th, New Taipei City will be bustling with excitement from morning till night, featuring a thousand-person street parade carnival, a Christmas shopping carnival, and a star-studded Christmas gala that will follow one after another. The gala kicks off at 7 PM that evening, with a lineup of famous artists and groups including Rainie Yang, Sodagreen, Luka Bloom, Vivian Hsu, and Victor Wong. They’ll celebrate a joyful Christmas Eve with the public at the Civic Plaza of the New Taipei City Government.
New Taipei City will host events such as a thousand-person street parade carnival and a star-studded Christmas gala on December 24th, inviting the public to celebrate Christmas Eve together. (Photo provided by New Taipei City Government Tourism Bureau)
The street parade carnival will begin at 4:30 PM on Saturday (the 24th), with numerous participating groups, including the mounted police squad, fire department hunks team, police marching band, samba carnival team, unicycle stunt team, Christmas beauties team, and passionate belly dance team—all showcasing their most creative outfits. Over a thousand participants will parade, competing for the most imaginative look. The parade route starts at gathering point on Chongqing Road, heads straight along Zhongshan Road, turns left onto Xinfu Road, and finally proceeds to the Civic Plaza of the New Taipei City Government. To accommodate the event, partial traffic control will be in place on sections of Zhongshan Road, Chongqing Road, Xinfu Road, and Xinzhan Road.
The star-studded Christmas gala will be held at the Civic Plaza of the New Taipei City Government, where you can also admire Taiwan’s tallest Christmas tree. (Photo provided by New Taipei City Government Tourism Bureau)
As for the Christmas shopping carnival, Banqiao Fuzhong Commercial District will be closed to traffic to create a pedestrian shopping zone. In addition to a Christmas market, there will also be live music performances, large-scale street installations, DIY experiences, and more. Shoppers who spend over NT$300 that day will receive a free Christmas scarf. Additionally, from now until January 15, 2012, anyone with a New Taipei City purchase receipt of any amount can log in to the New Taipei City Shopping Month website (www.ntpcshopping.com.tw/index.php) to enter a lucky draw. The grand prize is a nearly NT$900,000 SUV.
Official website of the “2011 New Taipei City Happy Christmas City” event: tour.tpc.gov.tw/2011christmas/