Taichung Mayor Lu Shou‑yen pushes food festival as critics denounce high media spending

Taichung Mayor Lu Shou‑yen highlighted the city’s Boiled BBQ Festival, noting that the event has helped grow the local restaurant sector to over 1,900 establishments and generate more than NT$29 billion in output. She said the festival will invite Taipei Mayor Jiang Wan‑an to try the city’s hot‑pot and serve as a free ambassador for Taichung’s culinary brand.

Opposition councilor Zhu Nuan‑ying and commentator Zhang Yumei criticised the city’s promotional expenses, pointing to more than NT$73 million spent on media ads, festival prizes and a stadium groundbreaking ceremony. They described the spending as wasteful and called for cuts to the media‑promotion budget.