Thousands of Hakka and foreigners will shoulder bamboo poles with sacrifices to the god of Yimin (“righteous people,” 義民) on Sunday as a major part of the celebrations of the 21th anniversary of the Taipei Hakka Yimin Festival this weekend.
The festival, which will be held from 9am to 9pm on Saturday and Sunday at Taipei Songshan Tobacco Factory, is one of several Hakka Yimin ceremonies around Taiwan to commemorate those who died in two civilian uprisings in the 18th century and to promote the Hakka spirit.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will preside over the main ceremony on Sunday morning as the chief celebrant. Ma will be the first president to preside over the ceremony.
In addition to Hakka people, Taipei City’s Hakka Department also invited foreigners and new immigrants to join the special custom fengfan (奉飯) this year. Over a thousand participants will gather at 8am at Taipei Renai Elementary School on Sunday and march to the factory shouldering bamboo poles of rice and other sacrificial goods to worship the ancestors, according to Huang Yu-lien (黃玉蓮), a division chief of Taipei City’s Hakka Department.
The festival will also feature 90 booths presenting traditional Hakka cuisine, craft arts and information on tours to Hakka villages, she said.
Some 6,000 plates of traditional Hakka dishes will be offered to festival participants for free on Saturday and Sunday as a traditional show the spirit of the Hakka people, she said.
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