Tung Blossom Festival begins in Miaoli this weekend

The annual Tung Blossom Festival, hosted by the Council for Hakka Affairs (CHA), will officially open with a concert and a carnival in Miaoli County on Saturday, even though the tung blossoms have already begun to bloom in many places across the country.

Council Minister Huang Yu-chen (黃玉振) made the announcement at a press conference yesterday.

“The Tung Blossom Festival has become one of the most representative, biggest and most romantic events in Taiwan,” Huang told the news conference. “With the festival, we not only hope to bring people into Hakka towns and villages across the country, but also show Hakka culture to the world.”

He said that the theme of this year’s Tung Blossom Festival would be innovative music and dance, adding that musicians such as Huang Lien-yu (黃連煜) and Enno Cheng (鄭宜農) had written songs for the festival.

Following the Saturday opening concert and festival at the Shangrila Paradise, a theme park in Zaociao Township (造橋), Miaoli County, three other events will be held at the Land of Mystery Forest Resort Village in Jhudong Township (竹東), Hsinchu County, the Kunlun Herbal Garden in Longtan Township (龍潭), Taoyuan County, and the Ta Shee Blooming Oasis in Dasi Township (大溪), Taoyuan County on consecutive Saturdays.

“Besides the four events hosted by the council, 81 private or government organizations in 36 townships in counties and cities across the country have also helped to put on more than 800 concerts, shows, performances and exhibitions until the Tung Blossom Festival ends on May 22,” the minister said.

For detailed information about events, locations of officially designated tung blossom trails and the forecast for the blooms, visit tung.hakka.gov.tw.