2024 "Zero Waste Island Easter Holiday" Island Heart Song Music Festival
Hosted by the Town Transformation Association, the "Zero Waste Island Easter Holiday" event took place on March 30th and 31st at Da'an Port Mazu Cultural Park and Da'an Xianghai Nayang Beach. With the theme of "Island Green Sustainability," the event combined activities such as parent-child fun, musical feasts, handmade cultural markets, and more. The two-day event ended with great success, attracting nearly 10,000 people to celebrate the Easter holiday.
The revitalization of Da'an Port Mazu Cultural Park has long been a local expectation. In 2020, a petition was launched to propose six major requests, aiming to develop the area as an "International Leisure and Cultural Ecological Park," integrating local industry, government, and academia resources, and discovering hidden champions in Jia'anpu. Local schools, distinctive industries, friendly agriculture, returning youth, and community groups all joined to promote the region's development, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Association Founding Chairperson Chen Zhenping, with a background in architecture, merged the local revitalization plan with the vision of "Island Green Sustainability." Dajia High School Principal Gao Rongli emphasized the school's ongoing efforts in local collaboration. In 2021, Dajia High School’s Arts and Design Department, led by Director Lin Qiuping, worked with the association to develop Dajia's "Purple Gold Town" and "Green Bliss" walkable courses, connecting over 30 local businesses and creating the "Smiling Jia'anpu" regional brand. The plan also promoted the transformation of Xinyi Real Estate’s "MiXiu Kitchen" project in Waipu and presented the achievements of the Waipu Library, combining pottery, indigo dyeing, and tea culture.
The 2024 "Zero Waste Island Easter Holiday" event held at Da'an Port Mazu Cultural Park and Da'an Xianghai Nayang Beach continued the "Island Green Sustainability" theme. It included fun activities for families, music feasts, and a handmade cultural market with 60 local vendors, promoting zero-waste environmental efforts. The lively event ended with great success, drawing near 10,000 participants, including foreign visitors exploring local cultural features.
Small vendor owners, youth entrepreneurship art walls, and multi-generational family participation created an afternoon of fun, including an invite to "Xiaolin Jianbing" owner Lin Wenhua, who shared the story of Dajia's long-established Jianbing business. Visitors also participated in DIY Jianbing making and watched artists like "Yidian Ling," an artist creating works from marine waste. The event showcased green farms such as "Lemon Forest" and a youth entrepreneurship market. On March 31, the Easter joint celebration also doubled as an early Children's Day holiday event, creating opportunities for 60 vendors to gain exposure and business opportunities.
As the ancestors of the South Pacific islanders, Taiwan's indigenous people celebrated their culture during the "Bay Island Culture Museum" event, one of the highlights of the "Half Mountain Dream Factory" indigenous culture theme. Last August, the "Smiling Jia'anpu" tourism season saw a full house for the debut of the "Dakas" ethnic group play. Director of Taichung's Department of Cultural Affairs, Lin Zhengxun, noted that the more local, the more international, and hopes the "Dakas" drama troupe can become a long-term performance group. This Easter holiday, the troupe returned with a performance of South Island culture "Island Heart Song," featuring indigenous languages and dances, as well as ocean-themed songs, bringing rich cultural heritage and reviving the hidden sounds and glories of this land. The performance was met with a strong and moving response from the audience.