Sanchih festival offers a mixed bag of entertainment

Sanchih local government is trying to put the township on the cultural map by sponsoring a week-long festival (2005三芝鄉筊白筍暨水車文化節) that starts tomorrow.

The sword bamboo shoot festival will take place in and around the Hall of Fame, Putou Village, Sanchih, Taipei (名人文物館 台北縣三芝鄉埔頭村埔頭路164-2號).

F 4 Girls, the female version of popular boy band F4, will perform. To get in the group, Amy, Stacy, Tiffany and Fanny had to pass some tough criteria, not least of which was that they had to have F-cup breasts.

Also appearing is blind crooner Lee Bing-hui (李炳輝), one half of the King of Kinmen (金門王), who with Wang Ying-tan (王英坦), were famed for traditional Taiwanese songs.

Lee and his partner, who died in 2002, stormed the Taiwanese music charts in 1997 with their Walking to Danshui album.

A new band on the local music scene will make its debut tomorrow. The Originals, formed six months ago, covers 1980s songs but with a twist. "Synthesizer pop and then imagine Axel Rose ate it," said Justin Robinet who goes by the name of Ken Tucky.

Other local groups slated to play include latin group Jam Jazz, rock outfit the Little Nurses (小護士), and Chang Hsiu-ching (張秀卿), a local folk singer who favors sentimental love songs.

Between the band performances, members of the audience will have the opportunity to put questions to the musicians.

Belarussian model Margarita, once the object of Chang Fei's (張菲) affections until she announced that she was already married, will "show off her brilliant cooking and long white legs," organizers of the festival announced at a press conference.

Proceedings will begin tomorrow with a lion dance followed by cooking competitions, Aboriginal groups performing snake dances, speeches, a beauty contest and a magic show.

Locally brewed beer and other agricultural produce will be on sale.

The festivities start at 9am and end at 10pm with firework displays and laser shows.

For information on transport and event times call (02) 8635 3640.