The annual Taipei Hakka Memorial Ceremony takes place today and tomorrow at Taipei Stadium. It is a festival with grand Hakka worship rituals and delicious Hakka food.
The festival serves as a memorial for the Hakka warriors who died fighting for their land during the Qing Dynasty and it centers on the worship ritual. This year there will be gods from five Yimin Temples transferred to the temporary altar in Taipei Stadium. The god-greeting process, together with the food delivering process, will form a magnificent parade on Taipei Streets.
The god-greeting group leaves from the Taipei City Hall for the Taipei Stadium at 10am today, while the food group leaves from San Yet-sen Memorial Hall at 2:30pm. The public is allowed to join.
KMT Deputy Secretary-General Wu Poh-hsiung (
There will also be a display of Hakka artifacts inside the stadium, including the beautiful Meinung (美濃) paper umbrella. The public will have the opportunity to create their own umbrellas and make their own Hakka tea.
There will also be an area with stalls selling Hakka food, and an area for competition in traditional Hakka sports.
"The festival has been running for 15 years, and this year it presents a spectacular altar, the orthodox god-greeting process, and a great many different Hakka groups and organizations from different corners of Taiwan," said Lin Hui-chun (林惠純) of the Taipei City Bureau of Hakka Affairs.
On the Web:
http://www.hakka.taipei.gov.tw
(Information on the festival is in Chinese only)
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