The Taipei City Government called off its annual outdoor barbeque fair for Mid-Autumn Festival next week over environmental concerns and urged residents to limit their barbeque activities to 11 designated riverside parks.
Commissioner of the Civil Affairs Department Huang Lu Ching-ju (黃呂錦茹) said the “10,000-people barbeque party” scheduled for Sept. 13 to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival the following day will be replaced by a music concert at Dachia Riverside Park on the same night.
“Although we do not encourage people to celebrate the festival by holding barbeques, we won’t ban such activities. Instead, we call on the public to think about the environment and avoid having barbeques,” she said.
Barbeques are a popular way of celebrating the festival, but environmentalists have urged the government and the public to stop the activity, as it produces substantial amounts of air pollution.
The city’s Hydraulic Engineering Office said the office had listed 11 riverside parks as approved sites for public barbecues.
Barbeques held at other public parks or areas could result in fines of between NT$1,200 and NT$6,000. The designated parks are Dachia (大佳), Yanping (延平), Huachong (華中), Daonan (道南), Machangding (馬場町), Bailin (百齡) Right Bank, Bailin Left Bank, Chengmei (成美) Right Bank, Chengmei Left Bank, Shuangsi (雙溪) and Yuanshan (圓山).
In response to Taichung City Government’s decision to ban barbeque activities at all municipal parks, Huang Lu said that barbequing is a traditional activity for many Taiwanese and that the city government would first seek to dissuade people from holding them before banning it altogether.
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