Taiwan Quick Take: Glass festival a smash

This year's Hsinchu International Glass Art Festival has attracted more than 350,000 visitors since it began on Feb. 11 and is expected to reach a climax during its final 10 days with various folk dance and pop music programs, event organizers said on Friday. Officials of the Hsinchu City Government's Bureau of Cultural Affairs, which has organized the biennial event since 1995, said that they will invite pop music and folk dance groups from Paraguay, Peru, Thailand and the US to perform during the final two weekends of the festival. This year's event is the sixth international glass art festival to be held in Hsinchu, which calls itself the "city of culture and science." The theme of this year's exhibition, "Alice in a Glass Castle," encourages artists to create a fairy-tale dreamworld by combining high-tech know-how with artistic creativity.