A large parade, dances and musical performances, as well as a food festival and a firework show, will mark the end of the Taipei International Flora Expo on April 25, organizers said yesterday.
The closing festivities, which are to be held mainly at Dajia Riverside Park, will begin at 3pm with a parade involving 30 groups that performed during the six-month expo, followed by a series of performances featuring Aboriginal dancers and a theater show at 5pm.
A three-minute firework show will begin at 10pm.
A food festival featuring 160 vendors selling all kinds of Taiwanese snacks ranging from oyster cakes to braised pork rice will be held at the park from 4pm to 9pm.
Unlike the expo’s opening ceremonies on Nov. 6 last year, in which the evening party and firework show were open to a limited number of guests, the closing ceremony will be “a party for the people,” Ting See-you (丁錫鏞), general producer of the expo, told a press conference.
“We attribute the success of the expo to all the visitors and their support. The closing ceremony will be a venue for everyone to join us in celebrating the success of the event,” he said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) will attend the closing ceremony, organizers said.
The total number of visitors to the expo is expected to reach the 8 million goal set by organizers on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning, Ting said.
To celebrate that milestone, the organizers will give out 188 prizes, including a two-night stay voucher for the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei’s presidential suite —worth NT$218,900 — as well as airplane tickets for two to any destination in Asia.
Ting said the expo would start giving out 1,000 numbered slips for the prize draw when the number of visitors reaches 7,999,500.
With only 10 days left until the expo closing, Ting said about 165,000 advance tickets remained unused, and he urged those holding the tickets to visit as soon.
The Taipei City Government will keep the expo’s 14 pavilions as venues for art and cultural performances and agricultural exhibitions after the event ends.
Popular pavilions, such as the Pavilion of Dreams and the Pavilion of the Future, will remain open to the public and visitors will be able to purchase tickets to exhibitions there.
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