Taipei's Dalongdong Baoan Temple Baosheng Cultural Festival to debut, interpreting temple square culture

Central News Agency (Reporter Yang Shu-min, Taipei, 15th) Taipei City's Civil Affairs Bureau announced today that the "Baosheng Cultural Festival" at the national historic site Dalongdong Baoan Temple will commence on April 19th, running for one and a half months. It will feature traditional performances such as fire lion displays, family opera, folk art troupes, and the Three Offerings ceremony, intertwined with art exhibitions and music, welcoming people from home and abroad to share in the ancient and modern cultural feast at the temple square. The Taipei City Civil Affairs Bureau, in conjunction with Dalongdong Baoan Temple, held a press conference to announce the 33rd "2026 Baosheng Cultural Festival," which will run from April 19th to June 16th. The content includes traditional performances such as the opening ceremony, family opera, folk art troupe performances, fire lion release, and the Three Offerings ceremony, as well as scholarship awards, free medical clinics, drawing competitions, art exhibitions, opera troupe performances, and religious belief seminars. Deputy Director Wu Kun-hung of the Civil Affairs Bureau said that among them, the fire lion release, which combines traditional handmade paper art, is highly anticipated. Tens of thousands of firecrackers will shoot straight into the sky from the fire lion after a 21-gun salute, as shocking as the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks. Liao Wu-chih, chairman of Dalongdong Baoan Temple, recounted that this year, they specially invited Tainan Oriental Tianshan Drum Dance, Tainan Wuguan Songjiang Array, Taichung Miaoxuan Dance Troupe, New Taipei Taiwan Peide Dragon and Lion Dance Troupe, and Taiwan National Academy of Arts to participate. Regarding the Civil Affairs Bureau's emphasis that the "Baosheng Cultural Festival" is different from traditional temple fairs, Liao Wu-chih, who is also a painter, recalled that this is related to the spirit of local gentry spontaneously donating land and funds to build Baoan Temple when it responded to the Ministry of Culture's predecessor, the Council for Cultural Affairs, in 1994, which sought to systematically integrate and present culture through temple groups. Baoan Temple then held its first "Baosheng Cultural Festival," once again consolidating and integrating community cultural resources, and re-conceptualizing and interpreting temple square culture. He cited as an example that inviting exquisite art troupe performances and releasing fire lions on the eve of Baosheng Dadi's birthday symbolizes Baosheng Dadi, as a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, eradicating plagues and warding off evil. From 1995 to 2002, it took several years to integrate domestic and international professionals to restore the historic site. In 2004, it received the "2003 Asia-Pacific Cultural Heritage Conservation Award" from UNESCO and held related international seminars. Subsequently, it went global, holding the first "2010 Cross-Strait Baosheng Cultural Festival"; and invited 15 countries including Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia to participate in the "2011 Asia-Pacific Baosheng Cultural Festival," exchanging and sharing multi-faceted developments in worship, folk arts, historic site tours, art and cultural studies, aesthetic competitions, health care, and academic seminars, and incorporating aesthetics into daily life. Liao Wu-chih pointed to two ancient plaques hanging high above the statue of Baosheng Dadi, saying that they are both ancient plaques, with no other plaques. For nearly half a century, new elements have been continuously integrated to interpret and expand exchanges, preserving the purely民間 cultural foundation and evolution of Dalongdong Baoan Temple from beginning to end, sincerely welcoming all sectors to share the "2026 Baosheng Cultural Festival." (Editor: Li Hsi-chang) 1150415 Choose to stand with the facts, every sponsorship you make is a force to protect press freedom. Download the Central News Agency "First-hand News" APP to get the latest news instantly. The text, pictures, and audio-visual content of this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and used without authorization.