By Douglas Habecker Translated by Uvia Chang

Still hungry for more:
The COMPASS Taichung International Food Festival returns

Every long-standing annual tradition has its starting point and, for the Compass Taichung International Food Festival, that point was May 23 last year, when thousands of city residents and visitors descended upon Sogo Department Store's outdoor plaza to partake in an unprecedented event. Designed to showcase Taichung's tremendous diversity of food and beverage establishments, the inaugural Festival was a runaway success.

With the encouragement of that success, not to mention the many compliments from last year's participants, Compass Magazine is once again bringing its international food festival to town, this year taking place on Sunday, May 22 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Due to popular demand, the event remains at the ideally-located Sogo Department Store and will include the same main ingredients. About 20 food and beverage vendor booths, run by some of Taichung's finest small and large establishments, will sell a cornucopia of treats, from all-American pizza by the slice, Taichung sun cakes and Indian meat rolls to Italian gelato, Spanish-style sandwiches and Tex-Mex favorites.

To quench festival-goers' thirst, there will be no shortage of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, starting with ice-cold beer from Official Festival Beer Sponsor Blue Ice, and sodas from Festival Sponsor Coca-Cola. Many vendors will also be selling their own drinks, from iced teas to cocktails.

To keep everyone entertained throughout the day, this year's International Food Festival has one of the biggest, most diverse line-ups of local live music that Taichung has seen in a while. Almost every musical genre, including Country & Western, Rock, Heavy Metal, Funk, Blues and Jazz, will be performed by bands/artists like Milk, Boogie Chillin, Baked Beans, Naturalism, 22, Eddie Khim, Crome Relic, Rhythm Clowns, and 'Round Midnight. Even when the bands aren't playing, the good music will continue, thanks to the skills of DJ Pressplay. See the attached Festival Schedule for more details about who's playing when.

One new addition for this year will be a Raffle Drawing for all kinds of great prizes. Each copy of this magazine includes a coupon (on event ad), exchangeable for one Raffle Ticket at the Festival, and additional tickets will be sold for NT$50 each. Prizes include airline tickets, 5-star hotel stays, dinners, and fine liquors and wines.