Taipei City Government

The Taipei Hakka Yimin Festival is a major event for Taipei’s Hakka community. In 2017, the event will be celebrating its 30th year with a 3 consecutive days of activities at the Taipei Hakka Cultural Park.

From the perspective of an immigrant society, the festival highlights the traditional rituals of Hakka culture, while the parade itself is a reminder of how volunteer soldiers carry supplies on shoulder-poles in the early days. The event emphasizes the spirit and traits of Hakka culture and brings together the traditional with the modern, the city with the rural, and Hakka with diversity to establish a new model for the Hakka people of Taiwan.

This year, the organizers invited globally-renowned designer Lee Ken-tsai to create the main visual poster which is displayed on the walls of city hall. The first wave of promotions appeals to the younger generation Hakka people through avant-garde posters and slogans. The second wave of the campaign emphasizes a conversation with citizens.

Now in its 30th year, the festival will aim for a transition. Looking back to the festival’s origin as an activity initiated by the private sector, it has now become a carnival event firmly rooted in Taipei City. The organizers have plans for workshops, seminars, and exhibitions, as well as connecting with community theaters, new media, and internet promotion campaigns, hoping that the event will serve as a platform for Hakka cultural performances across Taiwan and creating an urban art festival with Hakka characteristics for Taipei.

2017 Taipei Hakka Yimin Festival
Date: October 21 – 23
Venue: City Hall Civic Plaza, Ketagalan Boulevard, and Hakka Cultural Park

Activities and Dates:
October 21: Participants from Yimin Temple across Taiwan meet in Taipei; procession tour city area, performances, deity arrival ceremony, three-offering ceremony, Hakka plays, and more.
October 22: Shoulder-pole meal-giving procession, main ritual, performances.
October 23: Deity departure ceremony.