An evening of folk performance in Xinying
The festival runs across Tainan through October 25. At Green Heart Park in Xinying, programmes start at 19:00 on October 18–24; the October 25 closing programme starts at 16:00.
Buddy Lien · Xinying, Tainan
Kagatobi ladder performance
Kagatobi Ladder Climbing Preservation Society performance archive photograph, published by Nanying International Folklore Festival. Editorial use.
Editorial useView source ↗
Leave an evening for the park stage, or choose a performance elsewhere in Tainan.
The festival's public programme runs 17–25 October. For another evening, the park programme begins at 19:00 on 18–24 October; the 25 October closing programme starts at 16:00. The official programme also lets you choose performances in other Tainan districts.
Opening-day preview: October 17
A performer opens his arms and stretches one leg into the air beside a high ladder. Below him, a group holds the ladder steady; red and gold streamers spread across the photograph. Kagatobi's ladder performance grew from Kanazawa's firefighting tradition, when height meant a better view of a fire.
On Saturday 17 October, the Kagatobi Ladder Climbing Preservation Society brings an introduction and live demonstration to National Xinying Industrial Vocational High School at 13:30. Entry is free, with no registration; seats are limited. For the parade afterwards, head towards Xinying District Office before the 15:30 departure.
The parade gathers on Minzhi Road and leaves from in front of Xinying District Office, following Zhongzheng Road, Sanmin Road, Minquan Road and Minzhi Road. Taiwanese opera troupe 鄉城歌仔戲劇團 and dance company 人舞劇場 are among its participants. The opening programme starts at 19:30 in Nanying Green Heart Park, with Kagatobi and Korea's Pyeongtaek Nongak among the international groups.
Get there
Public transport
From TRA Xinying, the park is about 1.5 km away; allow 25 minutes on foot. Take Brown main, Brown 2 or Brown 3 from Xinying bus terminal to Minzhi Civic Centre, or Yellow main/Yellow 6 to Xinying District Office. Yellow 9 runs from HSR Chiayi to the district office.
Sources
- October 18 park programme ↗ — 19:00 start; Kagatobi, 樂耘舞集 and other groups
- Kagatobi: practice and group photographs ↗ — Firefighting tradition, ladder practice and source photograph
- October 17 free introduction and demonstration ↗ — 13:30, school activity centre, no registration and limited seats
- October 17 parade ↗ — 15:30 start and participating groups
- Main park and transport ↗ — Programme start times, address and buses
- All performances ↗ — Programmes across Tainan
- October 11 programme changes ↗ — Replacement appearances after the Mongolian group's cancellation