The annual Taipei Baosheng Cultural Festival begins today with folk performances and traditional rituals at the Taipei Baoan Temple, one of the oldest temples in the nation’s capital, giving visitors a chance to revel in the nation’s cultural and religious heritage.
The festival, which runs until June 3, starts with a fireworks show at 7pm tonight in front of the temple in Datong Distirct (大同), followed by a Taiwanese opera performance and parade.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will attend the opening ceremony and ring the gong to mark the start of the two-month festival.
Temple chairman Liao Wu-chi (廖武治) said more than 1,000 representatives from 14 Baoan temples in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines were invited to attend the festival.
CULTURE
The festival has become one of the largest religious and cultural festivals in Taipei since it was launched in 1994 as an event that advocates the culture of northern Taiwan by incorporating modern elements into the traditional temple festivals.
Liao said one of the highlights of the two-month festival is the “clan sponsored” opera and other performances, with dozens of troupes from throughout the nation taking turns to perform traditional rituals, such as Taiwanese opera and fire walking as well as offering in-depth symposiums.
RECOGNITION
The architecture of the temple itself, Liao said, was also an attraction because the temple won the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award in 2003 for its ambitious restoration project.
On Sunday next week, the temple will celebrate the birthday of the Baosheng Emperor with a solemn banquet to show gratitude for the deities’ blessings and to pray for peace and comfort.
For more information, visit the temple’s Web site at www.baoan.org.tw.
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