The H.O.T. Islands Music Festival ― an annual music collaboration among musicians from Hualien, Okinawa, and Taitung ― returned to the eastern counties of Taiwan this year on June 10 through 18.
The festival hosted live concerts, workshops, forums, and local cultural events at Hualien and Taitung, and Okinawan musicians such as Takafumi Toyama (當山貴史), Chibana Tatsumi (知花竜海), Sakima Jun (佐喜眞淳), Yoshitoo!, Higa Ayumi, Misaki Nishinaka (西仲美咲), and Jujumo flew to Taiwan to join local musicians in presenting and sharing the joy of music.
The lineup also included award-winning aboriginal musicians Anu (阿努), Dakanow (達卡鬧), Dondon Houmwm (東冬侯溫), Nawan (阿修), Balai (巴賴), and Ka' Futur (卡芙度爾), as well as Tonya (塘芽).
Singer Balai (巴賴) performs at a press conference announcing the lineup of the 2016 H.O.T. Islands Music Festival.
Truku artist Dondon Houmwm (東冬侯溫, center) opens the festival with a performance featuring mouth harps and indigenous music.
Contemporary Okinawan singer-songwriter Takafumi Toyama (當山貴史) was the second opening act at the 2016 H.O.T. Islands Music Festival.
Okinawa's Sakima Jun (佐喜眞淳, left) and Higa Ayumi (ひがあゆみ) perform at a-zone, a cultural and creative park in Hualien.
Japan's Chibana Tatsumi (知花竜海, center) mixes contemporary sounds with the shamisen, a traditional three-stringed folk instrument.
The National Taitung Living Arts Center first launched the festival in 2014 to promote the music of eastern Taiwan. Taiwan and Okinawa take turns hosting the annual music gala, in which H.O.T. is the acronym for "Hualien, Okinawa, and Taitung."