Festival celebrates sugar culture

During the time of Japanese colonization, Tali Street in Taipei City's Wanhua District was the site of the nation's only sugar factory north of Taoyuan. But over the years the once-busy factory became a shadow of its former self, with its empty buildings and the run-down warehouses mirroring the decline of Taiwan's sugar industry, the result of stagnation in global sugar prices and the beginning of sugar imports.

Now, with the Sixth Annual Sugar Cane Carnival, which begins tomorrow, local community workers are seeking to rejuvenate the community spirit of Wanhua and revitalize the area by using the culture and history of the period when the sugar industry brought much prosperity to the district.

Hoping invoke memories of the good old days with a model sugar workshop made by the community members along with traditional activities such as sugar cane cutting, the festival will also feature a special ceremony to knock down the walls of the old factory and celebrate the planned construction of a new "Sugar Cane Park," which upon completion will feature historical records of the sugar cane-period and a space for the locals to mingle, perform recreational activities and also learn about the past.

The president of the Sugar Cane Workshop Culture Association, Chen Chin-yao (陳金耀), said that "destruction and reconstruction" represented the community's efforts to build a future together, while understanding local history and culture.

"The festival will also feature `sugar cane popsicles' and `sugar cane soup' that the local community have developed in conjunction with cooperating factories. This is another important step in the community revival plan -- the development of new food products that can help to improve the finances of the community," he said during a press conference yesterday to announce the upcoming carnival.

Michael LaFond, a community development expert with over 20 years of experience in Berlin, was invited to help with the project. While the concept of community development is still in its early stages in Taiwan, LaFond said he was impressed by the locals' energy, creative ideas and understanding of the history of the place.

"Here, the relationship with the area and the connections between people are important for community development ... In Berlin, we can go anywhere and look for empty buildings or deserted communities to begin a new community development project," he said.

The community development movement is more mature in Germany, and several projects highlight the importance of using environmental technology to build sustainable communities that use recycled energy, such as rainwater collection systems.

But it is always important, LaFond said, for any sustainable community development to be based on the local culture and history.

"It's important to understand the culture and history, and use them as a foundation. Built on top of that could be environmental technology or any other projects ... If people understand the history, then they will appreciate the work," he told the Taipei Times.

After years of effort by the local community and help from the Taipei City Government, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation finally agreed to grant the community permission to turn the old factory into a park, while preserving the warehouse and old train platform as historical sites. The sugar cane park is still under construction.

The Sixth Annual Sugar Cane Carnival starts this Saturday at 9am at the sugar cane park, which is located on Tali Street in Wanhua District. For more information, call the Sugar Cane Workshop Culture Association on 02-23027142.