After a hiatus of 3 years since it was relocated to Houli in 2016, Taichung International Flower Carpet Festival makes a powerful comeback to Xinshe. The festival will be organized in conjunction with the Xinshe Flower Sea and Central Taiwan Agricultural Expo from November 9 until December 1, forming a three in one exhibition. This year, the Love and Hope – Le Petite Prince Interplanetary Journey exhibition area will be designed under license from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in France, making Taichung the first international city to present Le Petite Prince via floral art. While promoting the event today (November 5), Mayor Lu Shiow-yen emphasized that the festival will be the most spectacular and exciting event in Taiwan before late November, and she invites everyone to come to Taichung to attend the festival.
According to Mayor Lu, Taichung International Flower Carpet Festival has made invaluable contributions to the development of agriculture, tourism, transport, and infrastructure in the Shancheng region over the last decade or so. Since it was interrupted in 2016, the local residents have expressed a strong willingness to reinstate the festival. Consequently, the government has joined forces with the Agriculture Bureau and Tourism and Travel Bureau, as well as 3 municipalities including Miaoli, Changhua, and Nantou to bring the festival back to Xinshe this year. Furthermore, it is merged with Xinshe Flower Sea and Central Taiwan Agricultural Expo to make a strong comeback in the form of a three in one exhibition.
Mayor Lu also pointed out that in order to accommodate the increased scale of this year's festival, the Transportation Bureau has launched 4 additional free bus services to bring visitors to the exhibition venues. Furthermore, the Construction Bureau has allocated a budget of NT$100 million to flatten the roads in the Shancheng region, while local infrastructure will be updated as well. Everyone is invited to visit Xinshe – the Provence of Taiwan - to appreciate the extravaganza of flowers, agriculture, and specialty agricultural products.
Tourism and Travel Bureau Director-General Lin Hsiao-chi commented that this year's Love and Hope – Le Petite Prince Interplanetary Journey exhibition area will be designed under license from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in France, making Taichung the first city in the globe to embody the book's fantasy world and life philosophy using flora art. It is hoped that the exhibition will endow the citizens with a magnificent visual and spiritual experience.
Tourism and Travel Bureau indicated that the flower carpet festival spans across an area of 1.8 hectares that is decorated with nearly 250,000 flowers and plants, featuring 10 species of flowers such as perpetual begonia and Mexican marigold, forming 3D floral art installations. In particular, the main flower carpet installation, The Planet of the Rose, will re-create the scene of Le Petite Prince reuniting with rose via dynamic mechanical presentation every hour from 09:00 to 16:00 during the exhibition period. Flowers in 10 different colors – such as zinnia and tickseed – will be planted to portray the 200m rose motif, while the dazzling flower corridor will be decorated using thousands of fresh roses, turning it into a sought-after check-in spot during the festival.
Seed Improvement and Propagation Station Associate Director Chung Wen-chuan of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan suggested that Xinshe Flower Sea is the symbolic image of the Romantic Route 3's entrance, and it also exhibits the floral theme, edible landscaping, and the R&D achievements of the Seed Improvement and Propagation Station. It is combined with the Taichung International Flower Carpet Festival and Central Taiwan Agricultural Expo to enrich the overall appeal of the festival, as well as facilitate the flourishing development of Xinshe and Shancheng.
According to the Agriculture Bureau, Central Taiwan Agricultural Expo is co-hosted by 4 municipalities including Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, and Miaoli, consisting of 4 major exhibit areas: Joyous Traveling in Taichung, Tasteful Nantou Pavilion, Changhua's Fresh Products Pavilion, and Happiness in Miaoli. The exhibition areas serve to embody the vision of future agricultural developments, market the leisure agriculture and refined agriculture of Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, and Miaoli, as well as stimulate the local economy. In preparation for the upcoming event, the flower carpet area and Central Taiwan Agricultural Expo are closed to outside pedestrian and vehicle traffic in order to ensure the safety and quality of the final preparations.
For today's press conference, an adorable child dressed up as Le Petite Princess performed on the stage with the fox and rose. Moreover, the flower carpet festival's first aerial CF footage was unveiled, revealing fantastic drone footage of the flower carpet festival's exhibition areas. Mayor Lu also opened a book containing the motifs of the main flower carpet installation The Planet of the Rose with other guests at the press conference, symbolizing the official launch of the event. Dignitaries who attended the function include the following: Seed Improvement and Propagation Station Associate Director Chung Wen-chuan of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan; Changhua County Deputy Magistrate Hung Jung-chang; Nantou County Secretariat Hung Jui-chih, Miaoli County Agriculture Department Director-General Chen Chin-chun; Deputy Secretary-General Chu Kang-chen; Tourism and Travel Bureau Director-General Lin Hsiao-chi; Agriculture Bureau Director General Tsai Ching-chiang; Cultural Affairs Bureau Director-General Chang Ta-chun; Sports Bureau Director-General Li Yu-jui; Local Tax Bureau Director-General Shen Cheng-an; Information Bureau Director-General Huang Kuo-wei; City Councilors Jan Ling-hsuan and Lo Ting-wei.