World Book Day: Taichung City Shares the Delights of Reading

(Taiwan Business News) To celebrate "World Book Day," the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City will hold the "Reading Banquet: Abundant Book Fragrance" carnival event on the morning of April 19 (Saturday) at Caowu Boulevard, inviting the public to bring their favorite good books and share the delights of reading with other book lovers; on that day, the public is also welcome to enthusiastically donate books, and the collected books will be placed on the "Reading Bar" and the "Mobile Library Bus" to share with more friends who love reading.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City held a promotional event yesterday (the 15th) at the Taiwan Boulevard Municipal Building. Deputy Mayor Huang Guorong, Deputy Director-General of the Cultural Affairs Bureau Zeng Nengting, Longjing District Library Director Ji Jinman, Dajia District Library Director Cai Meiying, and others wore tall chef hats and dressed up as "Reading Head Chefs," bringing their own favorite good books to "start the pot and serve the dishes" for this year's reading carnival event. Deputy Mayor Huang said that April 23 is World Book and Copyright Day, and Taichung City has held a large-scale reading carnival every year since 2004 to celebrate. On the morning of April 19, the public is invited to bring their favorite good books and come to Caowu Boulevard to gather around tables for a banquet and share the joy of reading; each banquet table seats ten people, and district library directors, Dajun Literature Award winners, reading group members, and others will be invited to serve as the "head chefs" of each table, leading everyone to stir-fry dish after dish brimming with the fragrance of books.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City stated that World Book Day originates from the medieval Catalan "St. George's Day," when the hero slew the dragon to save the princess and gave the princess a red rose transformed from the dragon's blood, while the princess gave him a book in return; it is a romantic holiday of exchanging books and roses. On the day of the event, there will also be performances by a band, an honor guard, a symphony orchestra, book dancing, book singing, book acting, book hugging, and more, as well as activities such as handmade ex libris bookplates, a creative market, and reading interactive games.