Interested in joining a 50-hour, non-stop stage show starting from 6pm today in Kaohsiung County?
The newly renovated Wei Wu Ying Park (衛武營藝術園區) in Fengshan City (鳳山市) will pull together more than 100 top performance troupes in Taiwan and from abroad to stage a three-day Taiwan Performing Arts Fair (全國表演藝術博覽會) from May 27 to 29.
Under the title Wei Wu Ying Performance Art, this marathon-like activity is one of the largest ever held in southern Taiwan in recent years and will feature various entertainment from rock 'n' roll to traditional puppet shows.
The highly praised National Defense Demonstration Band will lead the opening ceremony of the fair today, and world-renowned troupes including Cloud Gate and the Ju Percussion Group will give their best later in the evening.
In addition to performances, there are many other surprises and halls for fun featuring different subjects, such as drama, dancing, teen performances, pop music and traditional performances. A maze for children with an area of 120㎡, one of the largest in the country, can also be found in the park.
The Wei Wu Ying Park had been an army barrack since the Japanese occupation period and had also served as the command headquarters of the Eighth Legion of Taiwan's army for many years before it was turned into an army recruiting center. The old army barrack occupies 67 hectares and was renovated to function as a cultural and performance center nearly two years ago, when local artists and civic groups in Kaohsiung made a strong appeal to ex-premier Yiu, who successfully convinced the army to move its training center somewhere else.
A project to build two national-class halls, which could be just as impressive as the National Theater and the National Concert Hall in Taipei, is at its planning stage right now and is expected to be completed by 2008 on the location.
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