The Islamic Cultural and Halal Food Festival may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of festive year-end events in Taipei. But the open-air festival at Daan Forest Park promises to have something for the entire family.
This weekend, more than 70 vendors offering Islamic food, crafts and cultural experiences will set up shop along the park’s pathways. Visitors can try out Arabic calligraphy and henna and shop for wares drawn from around the Muslim world.
It will be a rare opportunity to catch many of Taiwan’s small, online businesses in the flesh: La Femme Dromadaire stocks lamps, figurines and burnous (Berber tunics) hand-made in Tunisia; Camel Hump Stay will bring Moroccan leather bags and shoes; and From Syria offers up delicate woven earrings and pouches made by female refugees from the war-torn country.
Photo: Davina Tham, Taipei Times
Visitors can also look forward to a picnic with freshly-served food and drink from a range of Indian, Turkish and Moroccan vendors. Some unusual treats to look out for include food from North Africa, intense brews from Saturn Landing Turkish Coffee and baklava from the Taiwan outpost of Zalatimo Sweets, a 159-year-old Jordanian sweetsmaker.
The festival is co-organized by the Chinese Muslim Association (中國回教協會) and Taipei City Government.
■ The Islamic Cultural and Halal Food Festival takes place tomorrow and Sunday, 10am to 5pm
Photo: Davina Tham, Taipei Times
■ Daan Forest Park (大安森林公園), 1, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市新生南路二段1號)
June 23 to June 29 After capturing the walled city of Hsinchu on June 22, 1895, the Japanese hoped to quickly push south and seize control of Taiwan’s entire west coast — but their advance was stalled for more than a month. Not only did local Hakka fighters continue to cause them headaches, resistance forces even attempted to retake the city three times. “We had planned to occupy Anping (Tainan) and Takao (Kaohsiung) as soon as possible, but ever since we took Hsinchu, nearby bandits proclaiming to be ‘righteous people’ (義民) have been destroying train tracks and electrical cables, and gathering in villages
Dr. Y. Tony Yang, Associate Dean of Health Policy and Population Science at George Washington University, argued last week in a piece for the Taipei Times about former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) leading a student delegation to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that, “The real question is not whether Ma’s visit helps or hurts Taiwan — it is why Taiwan lacks a sophisticated, multi-track approach to one of the most complex geopolitical relationships in the world” (“Ma’s Visit, DPP’s Blind Spot,” June 18, page 8). Yang contends that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has a blind spot: “By treating any
This year will go down in the history books. Taiwan faces enormous turmoil and uncertainty in the coming months. Which political parties are in a good position to handle big changes? All of the main parties are beset with challenges. Taking stock, this column examined the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) (“Huang Kuo-chang’s choking the life out of the TPP,” May 28, page 12), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (“Challenges amid choppy waters for the DPP,” June 14, page 12) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) (“KMT struggles to seize opportunities as ‘interesting times’ loom,” June 20, page 11). Times like these can
Swooping low over the banks of a Nile River tributary, an aid flight run by retired American military officers released a stream of food-stuffed sacks over a town emptied by fighting in South Sudan, a country wracked by conflict. Last week’s air drop was the latest in a controversial development — private contracting firms led by former US intelligence officers and military veterans delivering aid to some of the world’s deadliest conflict zones, in operations organized with governments that are combatants in the conflicts. The moves are roiling the global aid community, which warns of a more militarized, politicized and profit-seeking trend
RSS