Taichung International Dance, Parade & Festival will be held from November 17th to 19th at the Taichung City Hall Square and Summer Green Park. This year, 6 renowned dance and parade troupes from Japan have been invited to perform along with 12 schools and private performance groups from Taiwan. According to Mayor Lin Chia-lung, Taichung International Dance, Parade & Festival combines Japanese street art with local dancing and musical elements of Taichung to conduct performances, using streets as the stage and the National Taichung Theater as the backdrop. The festival has become synonymous with Taichung’s unique cultural brand, and it will complement the flora expo to market Taichung and let visitors feel the passion of Taichung as a metropolis.

Tourism Office of Taichung City Government hosted the “2017 Taichung International Dance, Parade & Festival” press conference at the Taichung City Hall on Taiwan Boulevard on the 1st. Mayor Lin attended the opening ceremony accompanied by Tourism Office Director Chen Shen-shan and Taichung World Flora Expo mascot Life. Other dignitaries include Xitun District Executive Ho Kuo-yu, City Councilor Weng Mei-chun and her staff.
Mayor Lin commented that the dance, parade & festival originated from the Yosakoi Parade in Japan, which combines local spirit and characteristic with performances. Dance departments from schools in Taiwan are often invited to perform in Japan, hence the dance and parade cultural exchange between the two counties has already taken place for numerous years. Taichung International Dance, Parade & Festival assembles outstanding school troupes in Taiwan, fusing choreography, chants and props with local culture to accentuate the historical background of Taiwanese culture.

He also indicated that the first Taichung International Dance, Parade & Festival was well received, therefore this year the scale of the event has been expanded, in addition to 6 prominent dance and parade troupes from Japan (Yosakoi Happy Archive from Tsu City in Mie Prefecture, Jyo from Inuyama City in Aichi Prefecture, Kita Subaru from Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Syogakubu from Otaru City, Mizunami from Gifu Prefecture and Awa Odori from Osaka), 12 schools and private performance groups from Taiwan will use the streets as the stage and the National Taichung Theater as backdrop to conduct the two countries’ performances. The objective is to let the public appreciate local cultural characteristics and experience overseas traditional performance.

Mayor Lin suggested that the unique feature of Taichung International Dance, Parade & Festival is that participating teams are given free rein to create. In welcoming the 2018 Taichung World Flora Expo, various performance troupes unleashed their creative ingenuity by blending floral elements into their performance and costumes to Taiwan’s exclusive Dance Parade Festival. It is also hoped that Japanese performance groups will join the festival every year. With Taichung City hosting the Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum next year, the exchange between the 2 countries is set to be strengthened.

Tourism Bureau Director Chen Shen-shan pointed out that besides 6 renowned performance groups from Japan, 12 domestic performance groups will also join the festival, including Youth Senior High School, Wen-hua Senior High School, Chang-an Junior High School, Private Dong Wu Senior Industrial Home Economics Vocational High School, Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School, University of Taipei, Cingshuei Senior High School, Tainan University of Technology, Atayal Taiwan First Nation M-yu Dancers, Nantou Folk Dance Group, Miao Hsuan Dance Group and Wei Jui-Jung Dance Group. At the same time, local cultural & creative entrepreneurs are invited to the creative market, hoping to boost Taichung City’s international visibility via international cultural and tourism exchange.

According to the Tourism Bureau, stage performances will be held regularly at the Taichung City Hall Square on Taiwan Boulevard during the event period, while specialty markets and gourmet food stalls will also be available as well. The event will kick-off with the curtain raiser “Festival Eve” at 18:00 on the 17th, where 18 dance groups from Japan and Taiwan will take turn to dazzle the audience with their mesmerizing performances. At 14:00 on the 18th, “Parade and Dance on the Move” will take place at the Summer Green Park and in front of the National Taichung Theater. Streets are turned into stages, and the dancers will dance, parade and engage in close interaction with the public.

There will be multiple dance and parade lessons and exchange activities at the Taichung City Hall Square on the 19th, dance enthusiasts are invited to attend the events. For more information, please browse the 2017 Taichung International Dance, Parade & Festival official website (http://www.2017tcdanceparade.com/) or search for 2017 Taichung International Dance, Parade & Festival Facebook fan page.