An announcement that the Megaport Music Festival has been rescheduled for some time next year has been met with great enthusiasm from fans, musicians and the Kaohsiung Bureau of Cultural Affairs.
The festival was canceled this year after the organizers said that the Kaohsiung City Government, under then-Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), was allegedly “unfriendly and obviously unsupportive.”
Late last month, the organizers arranged a live broadcast event in which FireEx (滅火器) front man Sam Yang (楊大正), Elephant Gym (大象體操樂團) bass player Tif Chang (張凱婷), Chthonic lead singer Freddy Lim (林昶佐), DJ Mykal (林哲儀) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) discussed their experiences attending the Megaport Music Festival, an annual event that debuted in 2006.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Fan support has been the greatest motivator in reorganizing the event for next year, the organizers said, adding that most planning committee members had considered not holding the event for a few years.
“However, over the past year, we were truly touched by the fans’ support of the event and we have decided to return,” the committee said.
The organizers have had a rough time this past year, Chthonic band spokeswoman and bass player Doris Yeh (葉湘怡) said, adding that she hopes that rescheduling the event for next year would succeed.
The bureau said that it is always supportive of pop music, and always happy to see music events of every style held in Kaohsiung.
FireEx thanked the organizers’ efforts, saying that it understands the difficulty of the decision and hopes to be back on the festival stage next year.
Taiwanese rapper Dwagie (大支) said he was “moved” by the decision and said he hopes the organizers would invite him to the event.
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