David on Formosa

On the evening of 26 February a group of Taiwanese university students in Taipei went out to show their support for the Jasmine Revolution in China. While attempting to cross the road they were blocked from crossing by a group of plain-clothes people claiming to be police officers. The video embedded above shows the incident. [...]

The Freak Out Beast (吵年獸) music festival began in 2006. It is held in Taipei each year around the time of the Lunar New Year holiday, when there is usually a lack of live music events. I attended the festival for the last couple of years in Ximending. This year the event moved to Da’an [...]

Thousands of people* marched through Taipei in a protest against the expansion of the petrochemical industry. They shouted “Oppose Kuokuang, save Taiwan!” (反國光，救台灣) as they marched. This was in reference to the Kuokuang Petrochemical Plant which is slated to be built off the coast of Changhua County. Large contigents travelled to Taipei from Changhua and [...]

An estimated 30,000 people joined the 8th annual Taiwan LGBT Pride (台灣同志遊行) march in the centre of Taipei yesterday. Light rain did not stop the crowds from coming out to march with the numbers up on last year. The march is said to be largest LGBT Pride event in Asia. The theme for this year’s [...]

The Murder by Numbers Film Festival  (殺人影展3：亞洲與世界的對話), featuring films and documentaries on the theme of the death penalty, is on from 8-10 October in Taipei. It will be followed by screenings in Hsinchu and on university campuses later in the month. The festival coincides with the World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October. The festival is [...]

The 12th Taipei Film Festival (台北電影節) opens on Friday 25 June and runs until 15 July. The venues for the screenings are Zhongshan Hall (中山堂) and the Shinkong Cineplex (新光影城) in the Ximending area and Governor Cinemas (總督影城) in Chang’an East Road. This year’s city in focus is Rio de Janeiro. There is also a section for [...]