The first "Taichung Citizen's Picnic Day" will take place in Central Park from 9:00 to 12:00 am on December 11th. The government has given away thousands of picnic mats after the first wave of activity registrations. Mayor Shiow-Yen Lu announced at the press conference at the Taichung City Hall on Taiwan Boulevard today registrations for the second wave will start at 8:00 am on December 3. They will give out another 300 sets of picnic mats as free gifts, and participation in the whole event will be free. Mayor Lu said all citizens are welcome to bring their relatives and friends to the picnic together. Besides enjoying the park facilities, you can also go outdoors to enjoy the company of one another, and share the joy and happiness.

Mayor Lu indicated that during her four years in office, she promoted the Taichung Melody Project, adding and improving more than 200 park sites and sunshine toilets. The intention was to allow people to live a better life and enjoy themselves in the park. Central Park is the largest urban park in Taiwan. When she inspected Central Park a few years ago, she remembered that when going abroad, she saw that people often went to the park to relax, read books or had picnics, which gave her this idea. She bravely put this idea into action and launched this event, with the purpose of letting citizens go outdoors to socialize, interact, catch up, show care and enjoy each other’s company, and embrace the happiness from this beautiful weather and tranquil time.

Mayor Lu also called on the citizens to show their civil-mindedness and good virtues by taking away any on-site garbage after the event. She also expects a large number of people to attend the picnic, and asks people to keep a happy mood on the day and avoid quarrels over trivial matters.

Da-Tian Chen, director of the Construction Bureau, stated they would hold the Citizens’ Picnic Day in the largest characteristic park in Taichung. With the concept of low-carbon, intelligent, and innovative urban governance, the event aims to create a friendly and inclusive space for all ages, and invites the public to bring their relatives and friends to picnic on the broad grassland, in the shade under the big trees, or at the scenery along the water bank, leaving unforgettable memories. He also encouraged the participants to respond to the low-carbon and environmental protection concept, and take away any on-site garbage to reduce waste generation, in addition to using more public transportation.

The spokesperson for the event, A-Bu, said Taichung is a city suitable for living and visiting. A few weeks ago, he paid a special visit to Macaron Park to give an unboxing introduction. He said the Citizens’ Picnic Day in Central Park is remarkable because the trees are lusher than they were two years ago, allowing people to picnic in the shade of the big trees.

The Construction Bureau pointed out that they have planned four zones for the picnic day activities in Central Park for people to rest. At the same time, they invited the Love&Life and the auspicious puppet of the Construction Bureau, the little hero of road-smoothing, to interact with the public at the activity site, so both adults and children can enjoy a wonderful time of family fun. Each zone of the activity site is provided with light music entertainment. There is also a "children's reading area" where the storyteller will be leading children to read a variety of children's books. There will be mobile library carts where people can borrow books on the spot so that everyone can enjoy reading on the grass. In addition, at the "parent-child interactive game area" big brothers and sisters will be hosting activities for the children to play together, and letting parents enjoy the light music performances and relieve tired bodies and minds amidst the joyful playing of children, creating a sense of urban happiness.

According to the Construction Bureau, the second wave of registrations for the Taichung Citizens’ Picnic Day and free picnic mats will be live from 8:00 am on December 3. For more details on participating in this public event, please visit the official website of the City Government or the official website for event registration (https://reurl.cc/7jMWXl). This event is free to attend, you can also bring your own picnic mat to Central Park on that day. Everyone is welcome to participate.

In today's press conference, Mayor Lu, director of the Construction Bureau Da-Tian Chen, city councilor Shi-Zhou Liu, director of the Information Bureau Zhao-Xin Zheng, director of the Urban Development Bureau Wen-Bin Huang, director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau Jia-Jun Chen, chairman of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission Huang-Sheng Wu, director of the Sports Bureau, Yu-Rui Lee, director of the Labor Affairs Bureau, Da-Chun Zhang, senior executive officer of the Economic Development Bureau Gong-Yao Xie, the district executive of Xitun Bao-Yun Chen, vice chairman of Taichung Architects Association Shui-Long Ye, chairman of Taichung Holistic Education President Association of PDA Xiu-Fang Zhang, chairman of Taichung Hotel Association Xin-Cang He, secretary general of Taichung Tourist Hotel Association Yi-Wei X, and many village chiefs from Xitun District participated in the grand event. In addition, legislator Chiung-Ying Yang and city councilors Xin-Hui Huang and Cheng-Tian Chen also sent representatives to attend.