Greatest ever in 17 years! Scheduled for October 11-20, 2019 Taichung Jazz Festival offers 4 major appeals including the creation of 30 jazz stores and 25 gourmet stalls and the invitation of 15 international jazz musicians to stage 53 performances inspired by the concept of Localized Jazz Lifestyle. The event is expected to attract 1.3 million people and generate over NT$1 billion in economic benefits. According to Mayor Shiow-yen Lu, this year's jazz festival is considered as the greatest in recent years in regards to program design, procedure, and other arrangements, so everyone is welcome to Taichung to experience the magic of the jazz festival!
Taichung City Government convened a city hall meeting today (1st), where the Cultural Affairs Bureau Director-General Ta-chun Chang conducted a presentation on 2019 Taichung Jazz Festival. He mentioned that this year's Taichung Jazz Festival coincides with the Double Tenth Day long weekend, thus the event's duration will be extended to 10 days. Apart top-notch bands from 15 countries, Gold Award musician Anna Maria Jopek - the winner of Polish Grammy Awards and platinum album artist – as well as Independent Music Award winner in the US Derrick Gardner, Antonio Hart – nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo at the Grammy Awards – and Min-yen Hsieh – this year's Golden Melody Awards, are also invited to take part in the performance.
Furthermore, Garifuna Collective from Belize, a 30-year-old ally of Taiwan, and Ronald BOO Hinkson from Saint Lucia, an island country in Central America, will also be staging performances in Taiwan and engaging in international exchanges through jazz.
The hardware is also the greatest in history, emphasized Director-General Chang. This year's stage evokes images of Victorian extravagance and retro flair, while NT$100 million line array sound system will also be employed. Imported European crystal chandeliers will be used to create a romantic European ambiance.
Mayor Lu commented that the city hall administration dare not to be complacent because it has hosted the event for 17 years in a row; rather, the ambition is to make the festival better and grander, hoping to exceed 1.3 million participants and generate more than NT$1 billion in economic benefits. This year's program design, procedure, and other arrangements are also the greatest in history, so please wait with bated breath!
The Cultural Affairs Bureau would like to remind the citizens that due to a large number of people during the jazz festival, Guanqian Rd. (Gongyi Rd. to Lane 470 of Yingcai Rd.) and Lane 155 of Gongyi Rd. (Gongzhen Rd. to Gongyi Rd.) will be converted to pedestrian-only areas; vehicles are prohibited to make a left turn at Gongyi Rd. (Yingcai Rd. to Meicun Rd.). In light of traffic control enforced, route 11 and 27 bus will be diverted to an alternate route, please obtain information on the traffic control measures implemented online beforehand, and make use of public transport or green transport (iBike) to reach the destination. For more information, please refer to 2019 Taichung Jazz Festival official website (http://www.taichungjazzfestival.com.tw/).