Aug. 2 was the second day of activities in the Dasi Cultural Festival, and the big draw of the day was the spinning top prize competition, which attracted a lot of people to register and take part. Attending the event, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan smiled as he recalled when he was little he too enjoyed making and playing with spinning tops. Cheng quipped that these days he is so busy that he finds himself “spinning like a top” every day, so he is still living a “spinning-top life.”
Cheng said that Dasi is one of the main cradles of Taiwan’s woodcraft culture, and that playing spinning tops is part of Dasi’s traditional woodworking culture. He noted that Dasi is home to the Mei-Hwa Elementary School spinning top team and that camphor wood, which is used for making tops, is an important facet of Dasi’s wood industry. Cheng said that in future the local authorities would promote spinning-top activities as a means of preserving Dasi’s spinning-top traditions, woodcraft culture and other local charms.
Activities around the Dasi Cultural Festival will go on for three weeks. This past weekend has been a high point of the activities, coinciding with the weeklong pilgrimage to celebrate the birthday of the deity Guan Yu. As well as the Guan Yu birthday pilgrimage itself, there were demonstrations of face-painting and drawing of the deity’s features, and of traditional dough-figure making. There were performances by the Yuemei Community’s flower drum ensemble and a brass quintet from the Taoyuan Symphonic Band, among others, not to mention a mini-pilgrimage children’s camp.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
Photo: Lin Chin, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者林近
「大溪文藝季」八月二日為第二天活動，重頭戲「打陀螺拿好獎」吸引許多民眾報名參加。桃園市長鄭文燦出席活動時笑說，他小時候也喜歡做陀螺、打陀螺，現在每天也像陀螺般、忙碌得「團團轉」，仍是過著「陀螺人生」。
鄭文燦表示，大溪是台灣木器文化的重要發源地，「打陀螺」更是大溪傳統木藝文化的一部分，大溪不僅有著名的美華國小陀螺隊，製作陀螺的樟木也是大溪重要的木業；未來將藉由陀螺活動的推廣，保存大溪的陀螺文化、木器文化等特色。
「大溪文藝季」活動為期三週，八月七日到九日進入了活動高潮的「聖誕遶境週」，有關聖帝君聖誕遶境、神面彩繪、民俗捏麵人、月眉社區花鼓陣和桃園交響管樂團銅管五重奏等表演，另有迷你遶境兒童體驗營。
(自由時報記者林近)
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