An arts festival featuring 500 activities and shows kicked off on Saturday in Taipei to promote the performing arts in Taiwan and to grant local performing groups a chance for exposure on an international stage.
The Huashan Living Arts Festival, now in its third year, will showcase a variety of performances, ranging from plays and dances to music, juggling and puppetry from over 200 performing groups, according to the Ministry of Culture.
The festival will be held at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park, an abandoned brewery that was once at risk of being torn down.
Noting its transformation into a creative park, Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai said at the opening of the event that the abandoned brewery now 'brews culture.'
Lung further stated that the festival could be termed a trading platform for performing arts, as it had allowed local and international festival organizers, who were attending the event, to discuss program rights and the creation of opportunities for local groups trying to make a mark on the international stage.She also urged the Taiwanese public to attend the festival, which will run until Nov. 4.
The locally recognized Ping Fong Acting Troupe and Paper Windmill Theatre are expected to perform a popular social comedy entitled, 'Can Three Make it,' and a children's play called, 'A-so Loves to Sleep,' respectively.
The festival will also screen selected performing arts-related films and host workshops on performing arts. Free indoor and outdoor theater, dance and music shows are also expected to be staged every weekend.
The Performing Arts Alliance, which is running the festival, said it hoped the festival could attract at least 120,000 visitors this year and establish itself as an important performing arts festival in the Chinese-speaking world.