The grassroots-organized Tainan Zhamei Arts Festival began yesterday and is to run through Tuesday, featuring five days of traditional Taiwanese opera performances, banquets and cultural activities.
The event initially began as an online joke, with netizens satirically suggesting the city host the traditional opera The Case of Executing Chen Shimei (鍘美案), in which Judge Bao (包公) — a Song Dynasty official renowned for his moral uprightness — executes an allegedly unfaithful husband.
It was inspired by the daughter of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who accused her ex-husband of having an affair.
Photo: Screen grab from the festival’s Facebook page
In an online post last month, Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤), known locally as the “daughter of Tainan,” revealed that she was divorced. She accused her ex-husband of neglecting the family for years, having an inappropriate relationship with a clinic nurse and even withholding NT$23 million (US$723,089) in education funds set aside for their three sons.
In a show of public sympathy for Chen Hsing-yu, the organizing team raised tens of millions in New Taiwan dollars in less than a month by calling on members of the public to sponsor banquet tables and soliciting sponsorship from various sectors, turning an online joke into a large-scale cultural event.
It has become an example of a grassroots organization in Tainan and is to celebrate traditional opera culture, banquet culture and charity.
All five evenings are to feature performances centered around themes of betrayal, infidelity and retribution, including different renditions of the story of Judge Bao.
The event begins at 5pm and ends at 9pm each night at the Anyi parking lot in Tainan’s Anping District (安平), with free entry for the first two days and seating on a first-come, first-served basis, although visitors may bring their own chairs and picnic mats.
Tomorrow and on Monday and Tuesday, the event would host traditional Taiwanese banquet dinners, known as bando (辦桌) with opera performances.
All 750 banquet tables available across the three evenings have sold out for NT$16,800 each.
Last night’s performances started with the Goodoo Puppet Troupe, which performs Taiwanese hand puppetry, or budaixi (布袋戲), followed by singer Huang Fei (黃妃).
Tonight would see the Luo Yu-cong Opera Troupe take to the stage with a show incorporating traditional folk performances, war drums and performances by local students.
The Sun Kailin Opera Troupe is to perform tomorrow night and the Chunmei Opera Troupe on Monday. The Shiu Kim Taiwanese Opera Troupe are to give the closing performance on Tuesday, featuring well-known actress Lu Hsueh-feng (呂雪鳳).
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