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Streets of Taipei turn Brazilian

A woman dances the samba next to a giant buffalo on a float at the Dream Carnival in downtown Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: HUNG MIN-LUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

Streets in central Taipei were turned into a festival ground with a little Brazilian touch yesterday afternoon when thousands of people took part in a “dream carnival” parade.

Thousands of performers from more than 60 organizations and schools gathered at Liberty Square for the parade. The Dream Community Foundation and the Taipei City Government were among the sponsors for the event.

Thousands of onlookers sat or stood along the parade route.

At 3pm, hundreds of ­elementary-school samba drummers from Taoyuan, Nantou and Yilan counties launched the parade.

The beat was audible from blocks away.

As amateur samba and belly dancers danced to the beat, people standing on floats threw beads into the crowd.

While the parade was reminiscent of Mardi Gras carnivals elsewhere, local elements could be found.

Although they were performing samba drumming, the little drummers from Sanmin Elementary School in Fusing Township (復興), Taoyuan County — an Atayal Aboriginal area — wore traditional Atayal outfits.

Another group of samba drummers from Nantou County’s Sinyi Township added their own colors by decorating their clothes with symbols of the Bunun Aboriginal tribe.

A community group from Yilan County carried a sedan for Gugong Sanwang (古公三王), a god in local temples.

However, rather than having the statue of an immortal on the sedan, they replaced it with a doll.

“The annual Gugong Sanwang parade is the most important celebration in our community, so we wanted to show it here,” said Lin Tien-hung (林奠鴻), a member of the community.

“But instead of making it a religious event like we do back home, we decided to show it in a more creative way,” Lin said.

Meanwhile, a float carrying a gay couple — Chang Ya-huei (張亞輝) and his fiance, An Gu (安古) — dressed as groom and bride, drew a lot of attention from the crowd.

“We are getting married on Jan. 1 and we’re taking this opportunity to announce our wedding to everybody,” Chang told the Taipei Times after jumping off the float at the end of the parade on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office.

“I thought this was a great opportunity because there are so many people from everywhere around the country — and from abroad,” he said.

By coming out of the closet at a public event, Chang said he hoped people would be more open-minded about same-sex marriage.

A party with more music and dances started on Ketagalan Boulevard after the parade ended at about 6pm.
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