The 2016 Taichung Arts Festival will begin on the 14th of this month until the end of this year. World-famous singer Hayley is invited to the opening ceremony of the festival on the 15th. At 7 pm that evening at Fengyuan Stadium, Hayley will sing “If We Open Our Mind’s Eye”, a popular song written by Quan-sheng Lu, the “father of Taiwanese chorus songs”, as well as “Flowers in the Rainy Night”, written by Yu-xian Deng, the “father of Taiwanese ballads”. The ceremony is free to the public. The Taichung City Government invites everyone in the country to hear the elegant and warm voice of Hayley. In order for the art festival to go in concert with the 2018 Taichung World Flora Expo, the Cultural Affairs Bureau expanded the Art Festival of last year into an “Art Season”, holding more than 200 events of 8 different types in 53 different venues in the mountainous districts, coastal districts, the Tun districts and the downtown area. According to the Cultural Affairs Bureau, in addition to the world-famous singer Hayley, “enra”, a Japanese performing arts company, who was well received at the closing ceremony of Rio Olympic Games, will be performing in Taichung.According to Mayor Jia-long Lin, many musical events are taking place right now in Taichung, including the opening ceremony of the opera house, East Asian popular music festival, rock music festival, the Taichung Arts Festival and jazz festival, etc. Other than those, the city government organizes 250 events every year, including the categories of culture, sports, arts, festivals and tournaments. Taichung is an “event city” and is dynamic in all seasons in a year. Along with Edinburgh, United Kingdom, and Avignon, France, Mayor Lin hoped that people looking for art events to attend would also think of the Taichung Arts Festival. According to Mayor Lin, when Taichung City Government organizes events, they wish to invite world-renowned performance groups that could be paired with local talents. For example, in the opening ceremony of the National Opera House, a Spanish theatre company was invited to perform with a local cultural group, while Hayley is invited to sing with the Taiwan National Choir. These kinds of performances are the best opportunity for performers from different cultural backgrounds to learn from each other. Local performers can learn from the experience of their foreign counterparts and then step further to the stages in the world. In order to commemorate the 100th birthday of the “father of Taiwanese chorus songs”, Quan-sheng Lu, Hayley will sing “If We Open Our Mind’s Eye”, a popular song written by Lu, with the Taiwan National Choir. The National Choir will sing “Taiwanese Lullaby” and “Bottom Up, Good Friends”, two classic songs written by Lu. In addition, Hayley will sing some other songs from home and abroad with flower as the main theme, such as “Flowers in the Rainy Night”, written by Yu-xian Deng, the “father of Taiwanese ballads”, and “the Flowery Heart”, etc. What’s more, Hayley will also perform the classic song, “Amazing Grace”, Mandarin pop song, “Bao Bei” and “the Moon Represents My Heart”. Hayley will decorate the night dome of the mountainous town with her warm and pure voice. The “2016 Taichung Arts Festival” consists of more than 200 events, including performance arts, visual arts, installation arts, team competition, parades, children’s play, small stage relay show and artistic highlights, in total 8 different categories, within two and a half months, in 53 different venues, including the four cultural centers, the libraries, performance centers and cultural heritage sites, etc. The city government intends to bring memorable art and cultural experiences to citizens through these events and hopes to establish a recognizable brand for Taichung’s art festivals.For more information about the festival, please go to the official website of the 2016 Taichung Arts Festival, http://www.tcaf.tw/index.php, or the website of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Government.