Photo courtesy of Asian Canadian Special Events Association

On Sept. 4–7, the Asian-Canadian Special Events Association will hold its annual TaiwanFest in Vancouver to celebrate the culture, film, music and art of Taiwan.

Managing director Charlie Wu says that the festival started 26 years ago as an indoor concert of classical music and has gradually expanded to a multi-disciplinary festival. Even today it continues to expand in its venue, support and sponsorships.

“Since we moved downtown in 2010, we are trying to work with other organizations and downtown communities. One of our partners is the downtown Vancouver Better Business Bureau and this year we are partnering with SFU Public Square,” he says

Community belongingness and cultural diversity

Wu, who was born in Taiwan, became involved with TaiwanFest 16 years ago as a way to help the Taiwanese community and the festival gain support from other communities.

“I started in 1999 as a sponsorship coordinator and gradually I got more involved.

In 2001, I was asked to take over the festival as managing director,” says Wu.

The aim of this festival, Wu notes, is to connect Taiwanese Canadians and to share their culture with others.

“It allows Taiwanese Canadians to come together to remember their roots and allow younger generations of Taiwanese Canadians to learn about their roots. It also allows the opportunity for Taiwanese Canadians to share their heritage with other Canadians. So we use TaiwanFest as a way to build communities in Canada,” he says.

Wu finds that the festival’s inter-community and multicultural aims have also resonated with him as he has learned a lot about his Taiwanese roots and the importance of Taiwan.

Formosa Chat series

One of the highlights of this year’s festival is the Formosa chat series, which is a platform for members of the community and participants in the festival to share their stories of Taiwan and Taiwanese culture.

“[Hsu Hui Chang] is going to discuss his involvement in building one of the tallest buildings in the world, Taipei 101,” says Wu.

Jasmine Chang is another speaker who will discuss her involvement with a project in the Formosa chat series.

“She is going to talk about her work on a ripple effect project that was done in Africa,” he says.

Wu says that there are not only going to be Taiwanese speakers talking about their own heritage, but also Taiwanese and non-Taiwanese speakers who will be sharing experiences of foreigners in Taiwan.

“There is going to be a lady who has lived in Taiwan with Swedes in the coastal mountain and she is going to talk about the lessons she has learned from them. There is also going to be a talk from an American who has been living in Taiwan for the last 25 years doing tours of indigenous areas,” says Wu.

At the community level, there will be a Taiwanese author speaking who writes both in Taiwanese and English.

“A lot of people think Taiwanese is not a written language, but she actually writes in Taiwanese. And there’s a story of why she does what she does,” says Wu.

Wu himself will also participate in the series, to talk about some behind-the-scenes aspects of the festival, specifically where the TaiwanFest gets its inspiration from in organizing events, presentations and activities. Wu believes that it is important to inform attendees of why specific programming was chosen.

“A lot of people go to a festival and they do not really know why things are there, they are there to appreciate the presentations. But I thought there could be a lesson or two shared or learned if I provide a bit of the background,” says Wu.

For more information: www.taiwanfest.ca