Simple, but with lots of choices

Simple is better.

Such is the concept behind Urban Simple Life (簡單生活節),the latest addition to Taiwan's growing roster of youth-oriented festivals.

Urban Simple Life is a street fair and music festival with concerts by musicians like Canadian Daniel Powter and Taiwan's Deserts Chang (張懸), markets for vendors selling original designs and handicrafts, and lectures on topics such as "The Simple Life in Design" and "The Simple Life in Work." It runs tomorrow and Sunday at Huashan Culture Park (華山文化園區) and is sponsored by the Bureau of Cultural Affairs and Taipei's Department of Cultural Affairs.

"The main thing we are trying to do here is show how there are other [means of] obtaining happiness [aside from] things that are measured by money or traditional values of success," said Ma Tien-tsung, (馬天宗), the festival's producer. Similar events in Taiwan, he added, focus on a single concept like food or music, but "this one is a lifestyle and music added together type of event" with content "on an international scale."

Despite its name, Simple Life offers a complicated array of options, starting with three-dozen foreign and local bands that will play acoustic or "unplugged" sets. There will be several stages — Sky Stage (天空舞台), Green House Live (綠意舞台), Breeze Park (微風舞台) and Music of Freedom (音樂自在).

Fortunately the festival's Web site — www.streetvoice.com.tw/simplelife — is user-friendly, with colorful maps and photos for those who can't read Chinese characters. Clicking on the link "show" will fill you in on most of the relevant details.

The music starts each day at 1pm with minor acts on the Music of Freedom stage. Headliners take to the Sky Stage starting at 3pm. Tomorrow's highlights include Angie Hart, formerly of Australian group Frente, at 5:30pm and pop music composer Jonathan Lee (李宗盛) at 8:10pm, both on the Sky Stage. Indie-rockers 1976 cap the evening off at 8:30pm on the Green House stage.

Sunday's Sky Stage lineup includes Deserts Chang at 3pm and at 7:20pm beanie-wearing Daniel Powter — you've probably heard his chart-topper Bad Day playing at your local cafe — and finishes at 8:20pm with Wu Bai (伍佰) and China Blue.

Throughout the weekend at Huashan, some 100 independent vendors selected through a competitive process will sell handcrafted clothing, vases, furniture, jewelry and other items at in festival's the Street Market (街頭市集).

The market's organizer, Ejay Kuo (郭慈琴), also creative director of Web site www.streetvoice.com, said she looked for designs that were "original and interesting," and for vendors who were passionate about their work. This year's theme, she said, was "Do what you really like, make it valuable."

Stalls to watch for include the one run by Layuehtsai (腊粵菜), a group of eight that includes an interior designer and two people who work in advertising. Ariel, a publisher of DIY books on how to make fashion accessories, will run a table selling necklaces and stuffed cats made from an assortment of colorful fabrics. And 221 Tree (兩兩一樹), a toy designer, is offering black-and-white creations, notably trucker hats.

Separately, two-dozen designers will sell their creations at the T-Shirt Market (輕衫逛街). There's also a Simple Market (純淨市場) for established brands selling organic or handmade products. Food will be available at a Light Food Court (光合餐飲) and Air Cafe (露天咖啡). Lectures on how to live simply will be conducted in the Reading Room (分享書房).