2017 Taichung Instruments Carnival is scheduled for kick off at Houli Sports Park on August 18! This year, the “Music of Flowers” theme concert will be held in conjunction with the main theme of 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition, where a series of musical instrument competitions and activities will be organized. Furthermore, there is a new children’s paper labyrinth, challenge games and “Houli One Day Tour” cultural bus. With a whole host of exciting activities, everyone is welcome to experience the vibrant ambiance of the flora expo and Houli musical instruments.
Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City hosted the kick off press conference at the City Hall on Taiwan Boulevard on the 27th, inviting Houli Philharmonic and “Ding Ding”, runner-up of last year’s musical instrument contest in the student jazz drum group – also the youngest participant ever in this event – to perform for the opening.
Deputy Mayor I-ying Lin commented that in welcoming the 2018 world flora expo, Taichung Instruments Carnival – currently into its 12th year – will be held at the Houli Sports Park in an unprecedented scale, featuring jazz drum, saxophone and flute instrument performance and competition. Registration for the incredible event is now open, with a total prize of NT$ 300,000 up for grabs, invitation is extended to all musical instrument enthusiasts.
According to Deputy Mayor Lin, the finals will be held at the Houli Sports Park on August 19 and 20, where children’s paper labyrinth, musical instrument market and challenge games will also be available, so people of all ages are invited to come and join the event.
Director of Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Chih-cheng Wang pointed out that previous Taichung Instruments Carnivals were held at the Houli Horse Ranch. However, since the horse ranch will be used as the main venue during flora expo, part of it will undergo renovation, hence starting last year, the Taichung Instruments Carnival was relocated to the Houli Sports Park in order to create more performance venues and highlight the local industries. This year, the instrument contest will also be divided into saxophone, flute and jazz drum (student group and college/adult group). At the end of each competition, outstanding musical talents are produced to enrich the overall performance of art performance groups in Taichung.
He also mentioned that the 2018 world flora expo’s theme of “Sound of Blooming” is inspired by ecology, culture and history, therefore the Cultural Affairs Bureau has stipulated “Music of Flowers” as the theme for this year’s Taichung Instruments Carnival, hoping to resonate with the world flora expo.
Cultural Affairs Bureau suggested that since Houli will be used as a main exhibition venue during 2018 world flora expo, in order to accommodate this international grand event, the 12th Taichung Instruments Carnival will be held at the Houli Sports Park over a course of 3 days (August 18-20), and the theme of “Music of Flowers” is adopted in anticipation of the world flora expo next year.
In addition to gourmet food market, musical instrument market and musical instrument contest, the children’s paper labyrinth and challenge games related to knowledge on Houli’s musical instruments will also be designed. Moreover, the cultural bus will also be launched to offer one-day tours in Houli, where guided tours of musical instrument manufacturing process, saxophone playing experience and DIY activities enable the public to gain deeper understanding about Houli’s music culture.
Furthermore, Cultural Affairs Bureau will also be offering total prize money of NT$ 300,000 to organize musical instrument competitions, including saxophone, flute and jazz drum (student group and college/adult group). All in all, there will be 6 groups, and the top 3 contestants each group will receive anywhere between NT$ 5,000 to NT$ 40,000 prize money. Registration for the incredible event is now open until July 11, and invitation is extended to all musical instrument enthusiasts and performers nationwide.
For more information on “2017 Taichung Instruments Carnival – Music of Flowers”, please log onto the Cultural Affairs Bureau official website (http://www.culture.taichung.gov.tw/) or Taichung Instruments Carnival event website (http://www.taichungsaxophone2017.com.tw/). Alternatively, please call 04-23294088 ext. 22 for additional details.