This year's Tung Blossom Festival (客家桐花祭) promises to be bigger and better than ever, with more than 600 cultural events scheduled to take place in 32 Hakka communities in Hsinchu, Taoyuan, Miaoli, Taichung, Nantou and Taipei Counties, the Council for Hakka Affairs announced yesterday.
"Tung trees have steadfastly watched over the mountains and hills where the Hakka people have historically made their homes in Taiwan. Tung trees have always been a part of Hakka culture, so we have `adopted' the tung blossom as a symbol of Hakka culture," said council Chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Yeh said that the trees, also know as paulownia trees in English, used to be an important source of income for the Hakka. Through the festival, she hoped, tung trees will once again bring prosperity to the Hakka.
Planted in large numbers during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, the tung tree was previously valued for its lumber and the water-resistant oil derived from its seeds.
The festival, the third presented by the council, will run from April 17 to May 16th.
Yeh said that the festival was the result of collaboration between government departments, local administrations and corporate sponsors.
Expressing the hope that this year's festival would be even more successful than last year's, Yeh said last year's event had drawn an estimated 180,000 tourists and created NT$500 million in revenue.
At this year's event, couples will be able to get married in a group ceremony with a tung flower theme. According to advertisements for the event, the whiteness of tung flowers represents nature and purity, making it the perfect theme for a wedding.
Festival guides will be available at 7-Eleven stores nationwide from April 21. Guides will include descriptions of events and blossom sightseeing maps.
A range of traditional Hakka foods will also be available from 7-Eleven during the event. Other planned commemorative items include rail tickets, wine, telephone cards and a line of blossom-patterned ceramics.
To learn more about the festival, visit the Council for Hakka Affairs' Web page at www.hakka.org.tw. Couples interested in the tung flower group wedding should sign up between April 8-16 by calling 02-2957-2718, extension 13.
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