This year’s Hohaiyan Gongliao Rock Festival is back on after the New Taipei City Government late on Thursday made a policy U-turn on an earlier decision to cancel the event.
In a statement, the city’s Department of Tourism said the rock festival at Fulong Beach (福隆海灘) is to be held concurrently with the River and Ocean Musical Festival over three consecutive weekends in August.
The reversal comes after the tourism department’s earlier announcement, that it was scrapping the Hohaiyan Gongliao Rock Festival and replacing it with four weeks of beach and mountain activities due to a lack of space was panned by music fans.
Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
The decision sparked outrage and complaints by music fans, local residents and elected representatives, prompting the department to reverse the decision 48 hours later.
Residents and local politicians also condemned the city government over the opaque process and lack of consultation in making the decision. They questioned the motive behind the reversal, asking if it was a trick to lure young people, as New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) is widely expected to run in next year’s presidential election.
“The Hohaiyan Rock Festival is a well-known brand with more than two decades of history. It has turned many of Taiwan’s unknown bands into headline acts, which is good for promoting music and tourism in the city,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) New Taipei City Councilor Chiu Ting-wei (邱婷蔚) said.
DPP Councilor Lee Yu-dien (李余典) said Hou is deceiving the public by claiming that he has reinstated the Gongliao festival when in reality it has been scaled back, with the main themes changed and the event itself becoming a small feature of the River and Ocean Music Festival.
“When the sudden decision was met with a public outcry, [city authorities] said it would still be held, which indicates that the decision was made haphazardly, without consultation,” DPP Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) said. “The new version is lacking in indie music spirit and has no links to local residents’ will to safeguard the beach and the marine environment.”
The Hohaiyan festival is usually held each summer for two to three days. Since its launch in 2000, it has featured popular Taiwanese musicians such as Mayday and pop singer A-mei (張惠妹), as well as performers from elsewhere in Asia and from Europe and North America.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS