Ho-Hai-Yan Rock Festival is back bigger than ever

Organizers of the annual Ho-Hai-Yan Rock Festival have finalized the bands for this year's five-day event and are hoping that the five overseas acts and over 100 local bands set to perform in the week-long festival will make this year's concert the biggest in the event's six-year history.

Set to take place from July 20 to 24, from 3pm, to 10pm daily, at Fulung Beach in Taipei County, Ho-Hai-Yan will once again showcase well-known acts on its main stage, while packing the second stage with performances by many of Taiwan's lesser-known alt/indie rock acts.

While the festival still pales in comparison in size to the major European summer festivals, the event has managed to become the nation's most popular outdoor festival. Last year an estimated 100,000 people flocked to the sleepy seaside town of Fulong to have fun in the sun and helped to make Ho-Hai-Yan 2004 the largest rock festival ever have been staged in Taiwan.

No doubt a couple of the main reasons behind the event's huge popularity are the facts that it is free and held on a beach, but organizers also believe that the inclusion of international acts in recent years has been a main factor in drawing in such large crowds.

This year's international line-up includes five acts of very differing genres. The international line-up will feature performances by female rocker Melissa, rap/groove-box beat artist Peaches, Japanese electronic-pop duo Boom Boom Satellites, semi-ambient/post rock instrumentalist Vincent Gallo and alt-rock trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

As in past years the Ho-Hai-Yan Indie Rock Awards will take place this year with a panel of judges from the domestic music industry issuing one award. A second award will be based on audience votes, and a third award that will be decided by a panel of judges selected from local major media groups, which includes the Taipei Times.

Along with the music the Ho-Hai-Yan Festival will for the first time include a mini film festival and movies will be screened after the music ends at roughly 10pm on each night of the event.