Chiayi County launches music festival and food expo highlighting indigenous culture

Chiayi County’s cultural calendar opened with the fifth Chiayi Indigenous Music Festival. The event, themed “Su” to reflect a retrospective musical journey, featured concerts at the Chiayi Performing Arts Center and the National Palace Museum Southern Branch, and a collaboration with South Korea’s NEO‑TRD folk band, which presented traditional instruments and an East‑Asia exchange concert. The festival’s flagship concert “Time Tunnel at Both Ends IX – Su” is scheduled for 24 October, with guest conductor Professor Zhang Jiayun and bamboo‑flute soloist Liu Zhen‑ling.

On 31 October, the Taiwan Food Expo opened a Chiayi pavilion at Taipei World Trade Center. President Lai Ching‑te visited the booth, tasting the region’s signature “Ma‑Gou” sausage and a non‑alcoholic millet‑latte, and joined Tsou tribe members in a toast. The pavilion showcased Alishan Tsou culinary specialties, wood‑carving crafts, high‑altitude coffee and tea, and scheduled performances by the Tsou wind‑instrument ensemble.

Both events aim to promote Chiayi’s indigenous heritage, attract tourism, and foster cultural exchange between Taiwan and neighbouring countries.