Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with two days of free outdoor activities by traditional performing arts troupes from around the country.
Organized by the National Center for Traditional Arts, the market takes place today and tomorrow at the open-air plaza of the Taiwan Traditional Theater Center.
A star attraction is the Kinmen Puppet Theater (金門傳統傀儡戲劇團), which will make a rare foray out of the islands’ temples to present live performances with traditional marionettes on both nights.
Photo courtesy of National Center for Traditional Arts
Tonight’s highlights also include Formosa Circus Art, which combines modern circus acts and traditional acrobatics; extracts of classic Beijing operas performed by Taoyuan’s Po You Set opera troupe; and a screening of the movie Long Time No Sea (只有大海知道), about a young boy from Orchid Island who learns the traditional dances of the Tao community.
Tomorrow, puppetry will take center-stage, with Hakka troupe Shan Wan Ran (山宛然) and Puppet Beings Theater (偶偶偶劇團) also performing. New Taipei City’s Sun Son Theater (身聲劇場) will perform a dance and theater piece on stilts entitled Wings of Hope (希望之翼). Visitors can also enjoy music from the Taiya community and Amis singer-songwriter Sonlay.
If you want to make a picnic of the traditional moon-viewing during the Mid-Autumn Festival, food stalls at the market will be selling Cuban sandwiches, crepes and egg cakes.
■ Today and tomorrow, from 4pm to 9pm
■ Outdoor plaza of the Taiwan Traditional Theater Center (台灣戲曲中心戶外廣場); 751, Wenlin Rd, Taipei City (台北市文林路751號)
■ Admission is free
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