Special Cultural and Industry Activities

Hsinchu International Glass Art Festival

The establishment in 1999 of the Hsinchu Municipal Glass Museum, the first glass museum in Taiwan, was designed to promote Hsinchu's glass industry by integrating the resources of culture and tourism. Its main functions are to conduct research into Taiwan's glass-manufacturing technology, and collect and display glass artworks. In addition, glass workshops with live glass-making demonstrations are organized to help visitors learn to appreciate the artworks and how to make, paint, and reuse glass. And there are symposiums, led by experts, artists and scholars from Taiwan and abroad, for visitors who work in the glass industry. Since the glass festival was first organized by the Hsinchu City Government in 1995, it has provided an opportunity for the exchanges of glass arts. Artists from different countries share their experiences and ideas, providing exception opportunities for the local glass art

Sanyi Wood-Carving Festival

The town of Sanyi, situated in the southern part of Miaoli County, is known internationally as the center of wood carving in Taiwan. The town's wood-carving industry originated back in the 1920s and, in those days, concentrated on oddly shaped pieces of natural wood. The golden age of wood carving in the area came in the 1970s, when most of the products were exported. Facing the recession in the 1980s caused by the global energy crisis, the wood-carving industry had the opportunity to think about how to elevate its products from commodities to artworks. The establishment of the Museum of Wood Sculpture in 1995 prompted numerous wood carvers from other places to gravitate to Sanyi and develop their own styles of artistic creation; Sanyi quickly became known as a specialized wood-carving area. Sanyi Wood-Carving ArtworkThe Sanyi Wood-Carving Festival has been held in May yearly since 1990, attracting visitors from all over the country and abroad. The festival has allowed local wood-carving artists to exchange ideas and techniques, and to develop unique styles that have become known even in international circles. The success of the festival has brought the development of cultural and tourism resources. The activities include wood-carving exhibitions, color wood-carving DIY, a wood-carving market, and a series of Hakka life and culture shows.

Taiwan Hot Spring and Fine-Cuisine Carnival

The gradual arrival of winter formally announces that Taiwan’s peak hot spring season has begun! Taiwan abounds in the gifts of nature—cold springs, hot springs, mud springs, submarine springs—it is a world-famous scenic spot for springs of every variety. Beginning in 2007 the Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communication combined two touristic resources--the unique healthcare aspects of thermal springs and the demand for a modern, healthy diet--to integrate Taiwan’s “thermal springs” and “gourmet cuisine” for a plan to launch a “Taiwan Hot Spring Fine-Cuisine Carnival.” This event takes center stage throughout Taiwan at the same time each year, with one of Taiwan’s 17 thermal spring areas chosen as the year’s kick-off location. Not only is the Carnival an opportunity for Taiwanese tourists to soak up the pleasures of thermal springs throughout the country and receive merchandise discounts, overseas tourists are also fascinated and attracted, and the Carnival is a driving force behind the annual autumn/winter Taiwan hot spring tourist boom. During this period, hot spring areas throughout the country hold a series of hot spring/fine-cuisine events and pull together hundreds of county and municipal companies, introducing the scenic beauty of the springs, the local cultural landscape, and special products.

Yunlin International Puppets Arts Festival

Shadow puppetry, glove puppetry, and marionette were introduced to Taiwan, blended with local customs and beliefs, and had developed into a unique art form of puppetry since, becoming three treasures of Taiwan. As time goes by, regardless of a vivid performance in the hands of the masters, an incidental music of live musicians’ pragmatic responses, or an audience of different generation, or even the purpose of performance switched from offering thanks to the gods to entertaining people, the significance of puppetry arts has been gradually changing. Yunlin International Puppet Arts Festival was founded in 1999, and Yunlin becomes puppets’ hometown in Taiwan, creating a variety of performing schools. To establish the International Puppet Arts Festival is to realize Yunlin as a cultural county, to carry forward the traditions of fine art, and to promote international cultural exchanges. The festival activities include inviting international puppet teams to perform, and sponsoring the Golden Palm Award to encourage skill contests and competitive performances of classic and innovative plays. In addition, it combines with exhibitions of arts, cultural and creative works, and installation art of agricultural product puppets, and promoting, encouraging, teaching and experiencing glove puppetry to enable sustainable development and to pass on the heritage of glove puppetry culture.