The festival's opening
performance by O-Kai Singers
acappella group was a
memorable event.

Taichung Maple Garden Park Music Festival

The sounds of music evoke nostalgia and promote creativity

Words by Cheng Shu-hao
Translated by Angel Pu

During the late spring, Taichung City Government and Swiss watch brand Vacheron Constantin are presenting the city's music lovers with the month-long 2013 Taichung Maple Garden Park Music Festival, taking place in this event's beautiful, lush namesake park.

In order to promote original music culture, the Taichung City Government Information Bureau has helped organize this festival, which had its first performance on April 20 with the O-kai Singers acappella group, ocarina player A-chih, and the Taiwan Ocarina Orchestra with violist Lu Wen-kui from Huei Ming School for the Blind. This performance attracted a large crowd, which sat on the park's lush lawn to listen to the beautiful music. The next performance--taking place the very next day with famous folk singer Wang Hai-ling, Hsu I-ching, and the Fulfillment String Quartet--was also very popular.

The 2013 Taichung Maple Garden Park Music Festival features two main events--the Vacheron Constantin Legacy Festival on April 20 and 27 and May 4 and 11 on a stage in the center of the park's lake; and the Maple Garden Park Festival on April 21 and 28 and May 5 and 19 on a terrace by the lake. Performances include classic folk music, original compositions by young musicians, and orchestral music, providing something for everyone regardless of their preferred musical style at the beautiful park.

An unexpectedly beautiful result
According to Information Bureau Director Shih Ching-wen, Taiwanese music was once very popular in mainland China and Southeast Asia, but has now been almost completely replaced by Japanese and Korean pop music. However, "I am a singer", an extremely popular Chinese TV singing competition for singers has created billions of NT dollars in business opportunities, and the fact that most of the show's more popular singers are from Taiwan proves that Taiwanese music quality is clearly quite high.

The city government has selected Maple Garden Park as the site of an event designed to provide a stage for locals who really love music and dare to be creative. The goal is to provide Taichung residents with a fantastic musical feast as they enjoy the park's romantic atmosphere, perhaps helping to transform Maple Garden Park into a "musical hub" for central Taiwan and maybe the entire nation.

According to Taichung Deputy Mayor Mark Huang, the park was originally the planned site for a city convention center. However, it has now become an eco-friendly park and Greater Taichung's newest tourist attraction. Mayor Jason Hu, calling the park an "unexpected, beautiful resort", believes that Taichung was destined to have this great public facility, adding that he is very grateful that the Information Bureau has planned the music festival so that people can better know the beauty of this park. The mayor is also proposing that if it's very popular the festival should become an annual event.

As a supporter of local musical development, Vacheron Constantin, one of the world's oldest timepiece brands, has become the main sponsor for the 2013 Taichung Maple Garden Park Music Festival and is the first company to jointly organize a music festival with the Taichung City Government. Other local businesses supporting this four-week festival include Pro-Hope-Time Watchmaker, 2-Oak Construction Co., Lexus Central Taichung, Union Bank of Taiwan, and SW Mall.

Building a "musical creativity hub"
Noting that about 2,000 tourists visit Maple Garden Park daily, Mayor Hu says that the city government plans to plant large numbers of maple trees there. This means that in five to 10 years the park will be filled with beautiful maple leaves in the fall. He has always believed that although Taichung has so many music resources, there are not enough stages to showcase them. Therefore, he hopes Maple Garden Park will in the future become a park of music and creativity, and a source of fresh musical influence in Taiwan.

The 2013 Taichung Maple Garden Park Music Festival is a free event and begins at 5:50 p.m. on every performance day. To ensure that participants enjoy a high-quality musical event, audience numbers are limited to under 500 people (not including 50 guests from charity groups). The park's only access point is on the corner of Henan Road and Shizeng North 7th Road. For more information, check Taichung City Government's official website or search "臺中秋紅谷音樂祭" on Facebook.

2013 Taichung Maple Garden Park Music Festival May Schedule
5/4 (Sat.) 6:30-8:30 pm
Evergreen Symphony Orchestra with Ms. Chu Wan-hua
5/5 (Sun.) 6:30-8 pm
Ryo Arayama, Chang Wen-chi and Haoke Band
5/10 (Fri.) 6:30-8 pm
Pan Yue-yun, the Taichung Youth Chinese Orchestra and LongJuanFeng Band
5/11 (Sat.) 6:30-8:30 pm
Wu Chu-chu and Friends with Tung Hai University Fenghsintzu Folk Guitar Club