Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang: Keelung Ghost Festival, passed down for 163 years, is about to unfold

The Keelung Ghost Festival, now in its 163rd year of passing down through generations, is a festival event in Keelung with a long history and cultural significance. On the 15th, Mayor Lin Yu-chang hosted the event kick-off press conference, thanking the He, Lan, and Han surname clan associations serving as the rotating chief presiding group, and stressing that the Keelung Ghost Festival will be held by combining tradition and modernity, welcoming friends from home and abroad to visit Keelung this month.

At the press conference on the 15th, Keelung street dance groups took the stage first with dance battles, showcasing the meaning of the Ghost Festival's "artistic competition and group harmony" formations. The chief presiding He, Lan, and Han surname clan associations also specially invited Councilors Lan Min-huang, He Shu-ping, and Han Shih-yu (representing Councilor Han Liang-chi) to serve as surname representatives and appear as the Three Immortals at the press conference. Mayor Lin Yu-chang then led the guests in a focus ceremony, "Dingyou Competition and Harmony, Ghost Festival Art Gathering," to announce the start of the Ghost Festival and welcome everyone to visit Keelung.

Mayor Lin Yu-chang said that the biggest difference between the Dingyou Keelung Ghost Festival and previous years is that it will return to having the clan associations as the main body, with guest seating but no viewing platform. He will personally accompany the clan elders of each clan association to take part in the parade, in line with historical tradition. This year's events and performances will not only continue those of previous years, but are guaranteed to be even more spectacular.

The Keelung City Cultural Affairs Bureau said that a major feature of the 2017 Dingyou Keelung Ghost Festival performing arts events is that on the day of the water lantern release parade on the 14th day of the seventh lunar month (September 4 on the Gregorian calendar), the cultural interpretive process of the Keelung Ghost Festival will be presented through an opening dance drama. Taiwan's first dancer to join Cirque du Soleil, teacher Chang Yi-chun, was specially invited to lead the creation and integrate local Keelung performance teams into the performance.

During the Ghost Festival events, the Keelung City Cultural Affairs Bureau has also specially planned a Keelung roaming grand prize draw. As long as the public spends 300 yuan or more in a single transaction during the Ghost Festival period, they can exchange it for 1 raffle ticket. The grand prize is a two-person trip to Naha on Star Cruises, and there are also accommodation vouchers and souvenir prizes provided by local Keelung businesses, welcoming the public to participate in large numbers.