By Douglas Habecker Translated by Ann Lee

Loosen your belts, kick off your shoes and prepare for blast-off, because central Taiwan's hottest annual international food and music event is rolling back into town this month. For the fourth year in a row, Compass Magazine is inviting all residents and visitors to join in a celebration of the magazine's birthday with the Compass Taichung International Food & Music Festival. This year's festival--free and open to the public--will mark Compass Magazine's 13th anniversary and will fill Saturday, May 26 with a combination of outstanding international food, plenty of ice-cold beer and other drinks, and the largest-ever line-up of live bands. Cooperating with Compass to make this exciting event possible are co-sponsors Le ble d'or beer, Guang San Sogo Department Store, Sunny FM89.1, Patrick Byrne and the Grooveyard pub, and ICRT.

Ground zero for this exciting event will once again be Taichung's Guang San Sogo Department Store, right in the heart of the city's busiest commercial district. The festival will kick off at 11 a.m. and continue to 9 p.m., when all participants are invited to head only about 300 meters away, to a post-event party at Grooveyard pub on nearby HuaMei West Street (Canal District), where the fun continues with more live music (see more details below).

Since fist taking place four years ago, this Compass-organized festival has aimed to showcase the wide variety of cuisine that is available at Taichung's international dining and nightlife establishments--just like Compass magazine and the www.taiwanfun.com website do every month. This year is no exception, with an interesting mix of establishment representatives, from popular returning participants, to less-known, first-timers. A total of about 25 vendor booths will sell food and drinks from the U.S.A., the U.K., Korea, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and other points around the globe.

This year's vendors--drawn from among central Taiwan's finest restaurants, hotels, pubs and cafes-- include: Bagels & Beans, December Music Bar, The Dive, Early Bird Diner, Esslingen Bistro, fM Bar & Restaurant, Frog pubs, FuBar, Joyful Cooking (Huan Xi Shao) Sukiyaki, La Bodega, The Landis Hotel, The Londoner, M&M Pub, Mona Lisa Pub, The Naked Cafe, Oldies, Papa's Pizza, PJ's Cafe, Sahara Cafe, The Splendor Hotel, Stone Food Restaurant, and Capitan (Yumaowu) Supermarkets.

Residents and visitors who are curious about what Taichung's international dining scene has to offer won't find a better chance to sample what's out there. For very reasonable prices, vendors are selling a vast variety of food, including various sausages, tacos, "bangers and mash" (sausages and mashed potatoes), Japanese-style BBQ, kebabs, burritos, samosas, pizzas, salads, sandwiches, barbecued corn, burgers, hot dogs, BBQ chicken, lamb chops, beef/pork/chicken steaks...and the mouth-watering list goes on and on.

Plenty of cold alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages will also be sold. These include three kinds of draft beer from the festivals' official beer sponsor, German-style microbrewery Le ble d'or. This is the first time draft beer is being offered at the festival, and Le ble d'or is not offering one, but three different varieties--a lager, a hefe-weissbier, and dark dunkel. Other vendors will also be selling drinks like sangria, red/white wine, margaritas and other cocktails, and soda, to slake the thirst of festival-goers throughout the day.

As good as the food and drinks are, the thing that really keeps people hanging around throughout the day and into the night is great live music. This year's event name has been altered slightly to reflect this fact, as the Compass Taichung International Food & MUSIC Festival. Participants can look forward to even more great music this year, with an unprecedented total of 11 bands (see Festival Schedule) playing styles that range from rock and funk to jazz and blues. These include: Black Lung, Boogie Chillin', Dirty Skies, Faye and The Slacks, Militant Hippie, The Money $hot Horns, 'Round Midnight, The Soilers, 3 Legged Cat, .22, and Winsky. In between music, the audience can also look forward to other forms of fun, including contests and games for prizes and belly-dancing performances.

If that wasn't enough music and fun for one day, the post-event party at The Grooveyard follows immediately afterwards, with one of Taiwan's best roots/funk/dance-party bands, Public Radio (from Taipei), playing live from 10 p.m. The evening will also include a "4 in Funk Affair" DJ party, featuring DJs Edifly, Groove, Dan, and Z. NT$200 tickets for this great event will be presold during the festival and the first 100 purchasers will also get a free beer at Grooveyard that night.

With all this available, there's no place that Taichung residents should be on May 26 except at this festival. Whether you plan to stop by for quick sampling or, better yet, make an entire day out of it, the Compass Taichung International Food & Music Festival is the best way to welcome the summer, relax and have fun, and enjoy some of the best food, drink and music to be found, not just in Taichung, but in all of Taiwan. We'll see you there!
For more information, contact Compass Magazine at (04) 2358-5466.

Compass Magazine is required by law to remind its readers not to drink and drive.

MUSIC SCHEDULE
10:30am-11:00am 'round midnight
11:15am-11:45am Dirty Skies
12:00pm-12:45pm Faye and the Slacks
1pm-1:45pm 3 Legged Cat
2pm-2:45pm Militant Hippi
3pm-3:45pm Black Lung
4pm-4:45pm The Soilers
5pm-5:45pm Winsky
6pm-6:45pm .22
7pm-7:45pm Boogie Chillin'
8pm-8:45pm Money $hot Horns