The annual Taipei Fireworks Festival will be held at the Dadaocheng Wharf and Yanping Riverside Park on Saturday, featuring a 30-minute-long firework show.
The festival, which was originally scheduled to be held in August, was postponed because of Typhoon Morakot.
The festival will begin at 3pm with a series of music and dance performances, followed by the firework show at 8:30pm that will light up the Tamsui River.
Tou Chung-hua (脫宗華), commissioner of Taipei City’s Department of Tourism and Information, said the festival would also celebrate the 365-day countdown to the 2010 Taipei Flora Expo. The fireworks will have a floral theme, forming the shapes of 120 flowers ranging from plum blossoms and lotus flowers to orchids, Tou said.
To spotlight the local culture of Dadaocheng, there will be a special exhibition at the Dadaocheng Wharf to pay tribute to songwriter and Dadaocheng native Lee Lin-chiu (李臨秋), composer of such famous Taiwanese folk songs as Spring Breeze and Song of Four Seasons.
Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧), director of Taipei City Police Department’s traffic division, urged festivalgoers to use public transportation to avoid traffic congestion in the area.
The division will enforce traffic control in the Dadaocheng Wharf and Yanping Riverside Park areas and Zhongxiao Bridge, closing the area between Floodgate 3 and Floodgate 5 to all traffic from 12pm to 11pm, Fang said.
Bicycles will also be banned from entering the wharf between 5pm and 10pm, he said.
More information on the festival can be obtained by visiting www.2009fireworks.taipei.gov.tw/main.html.
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