Spring in Taitung: Taitung Slow Food Festival, Picnic & Music Festival, Challenge Taiwan
- ACFI
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
In spring, people travel great distances to reach Taitung, drawn by the call of its fields, tides, lakes, kitchens, and ocean. Three upcoming events in Taitung echo this invitation – the Taitung Slow Food Festival held by the Chenggong Seaside Park from April 19–20, the Picnic & Music Festival taking place by Chishang's Dapo Pond on April 26, and the international triathlon event, Challenge Taiwan, from April 26–27.
Some answer the call through a shared meal; others, through music or a shared passion for testing their physical limits, drawing the community closer together. Beyond tourism, those who live here believe that slowing down and staying grounded with the land is a way of life worth practicing.
The Birth of the Taitung Slow Food Festival
Inspired by the Slow Food movement in Italy, the Taitung Slow Food Festival, as its name suggests, is centered around food and beverage. However, beneath the surface of this celebration lies a deeper journey – one that moves from farm to table, from local life to the global stage. It begins with taste and unfolds into rich stories of land, culture, and people.
Established by Li-Chin Kuo of Co-Create Planning & Design, Kuo and her team came to Taitung in the spring of 2010 for a build-operate-transfer development project. As they immersed themselves in the community, they began questioning whether Taitung could thrive without relying on large-scale construction. They wondered if slow, sustainable growth could become the region’s true strength. Kuo decided to start with something simple yet profoundly meaningful – food. She sought ways to keep the region's high-quality ingredients, often exported elsewhere, available for local consumption. By connecting these ingredients to tourism, she played a pivotal role in shaping a distinctive culinary landscape for Taitung.
This philosophy aligns with the core values of the international slow food movement – good, clean, and fair. It emphasizes the cultural connection between food and land, prioritizes pure and safe sources of food, and is committed to environmental sustainability.
Step into someone's kitchen, and you’ll understand that the dining table holds layers of heritage, social relationships, and stories connecting to family and community.
In 2017, the Taitung Slow Food Festival was born. Through the format of a farmer’s market, it allowed vendors to quickly step into the business model. In the market, travelers might taste traditional millet rice from the Bunun tribe for the first time, or try dishes with unfamiliar flavors and textures. With creative reinterpretation, these foods become unforgettable memories such as the Amis tribe’s silaw (salted pork), which gained wider acceptance.
With the festival’s long-term development, over the past decade vendors have begun cultivating micro-economies, finding ways to establish their own foundations. Cultural confidence has also gradually taken root. Whether it's indigenous communities, second-generation Hakka immigrants, returning youth, or new settlers, they all discover new possibilities for Taitung through the act of cooking.
What Does My Future Dining Table Look Like?
“The slow food community isn’t structured in a dense or rigid way. It’s built through events and workshops, through repeated efforts. Before the festival even begins, there are several steps taken to help everyone understand the theme and learn together,” shared Kuo.
The Taitung Slow Food Festival includes a series of projects such as the Taitung Slow Food Report and the Institute of Taitung Slow Food. The selection of dishes isn’t just about impressing a panel of judges, it’s about vendors observing and inspiring one another. For example, to promote a plastic-free philosophy, one vendor used the leaf of yellow coconuts from the East Coast to create utensils. Others unearthed ancestral recipes and reinterpreted them through a contemporary lens. The participants aren’t competing, they’re learning, exploring, and cultivating mutually supportive relationships rooted in the local landscape.
Aside from showcasing at Taipei’s Huashan 1914 Creative Park in 2021 and 2023, the Taitung Slow Food Festival went international in 2024 by participating in Terra Madre Day, the world’s largest slow food gathering held in Italy. The event brought together over 700 participating groups and 3,000 representatives from 120 countries. The Taitung team not only embraced their core principles such as eliminating disposable utensils and striving for zero waste by foraging local edible leaves, but also actively engaged in global conversations within international slow food communities, including Slow Fish, the Slow Food Indigenous Peoples’ Asia Pacific Network, and the Coffee Coalition.
Whether at local markets or international expos, each dish presented is not just an expression of individual flavor, but a collective representation of shared ideals inviting people to envision a more sustainable, locally grounded future dining table. The 2025 Taitung Slow Food Festival theme is “Forage-to-Table: River and Intertidal Zone Foraging,” reflecting on the earliest connections between humans and nature. By combining the East Coast landscape with food-based action, the festival continues to echo the international slow food spirit of “We Are Nature.”
A Place-Based Imagination, Starting from a Grain of Rice
By Dapo Pond, people sit on the grass, listen to music, enjoy picnics, and watch clouds mirrored on the water's surface. Even before the now-famous Chishang Autumn Harvest Festival gained prominence, local farmers had already begun considering the future of this land from the perspective of agricultural revitalization. Cheng-Hsien Liang, who spearheaded the push for the Chishang Rice origin certification mark, said, “Back in the early 2000s, we proposed that Chishang Rice needed its own certification label, turning it into a limited-edition product.” At that time, Chishang Rice had long been subject to rampant imitation by rice merchants across Taiwan. Without a stable foundation for local industry, a shared cultural identity might not have taken root so quickly. Liang has always believed that only when “Chishang” becomes a trusted brand can cultural events avoid becoming fleeting spectacles and instead genuinely carry the depth and value of the region.
Located at the heart of Chishang, Dapo Pond is a vital water source for irrigating rice fields and various crops, and is regarded by locals as “the mother of Chishang.”
In the past, Dapo Pond was once slated for tourism development. Plans were made to fill in the pond to construct a five-star hotel, a visitor center, and a large parking lot. As part of a local development strategy aligned with national policies, half of the pond had already been filled when Taiwan was preparing to join the World Trade Organization. Where should local industry go next? “At the time, it really felt like ‘the wolf is coming,’” said Liang. But this looming threat instead united the farmers. “No matter how thick a wall is, if everyone charges it together, it will fall.” What many believed to be an irreversible development plan was eventually halted by the voices and actions of the local community.
“Chishang has a unique charm, with a group of passionate individuals often coming together to pursue a common cause,” Liang said with a laugh. Yet it is precisely this spirit that has allowed new possibilities to slowly take root in this land, paving the way for future cultural practices.
Spring Cultivation, Summer Weeding, Autumn Harvest, Winter Storage
With 1,600 hectares of farmland, the rhythm of life in Chishang is tightly interwoven with the agricultural seasons. The first to establish a presence here, the Lovely Taiwan Foundation, centered their cultural activities around the four seasons – Spring Cultivation, Summer Weeding, Autumn Harvest, and Winter Storage. In spring, the Picnic & Music Festival is held by Dapo Pond; in summer, banquet-style events highlight Hakka culinary traditions; Autumn Harvest features artistic performances amid golden rice paddy fields; and Winter Storage takes the form of talks and lectures, providing locals an opportunity to absorb new insights during the fallow season.
In 2009, poets and musicians gathered for the first Picnic & Music Festival. Attendees included Chiang Hsun, Xi Murong, Liu Ka-shiang, and Summer Lei, among others. “Rice” became the central theme of the picnic, bringing local food culture directly into the event setting.
“It’s not difficult to find outstanding performance groups; the challenge lies in finding those who can truly understand this land and design programs suited to the conditions and limitations of the venue,” said Lee Ying-Ping, CEO of the Lovely Taiwan Foundation. Chishang’s spring brings plum rains, summer brings typhoons, and in autumn, you might experience all four seasons in a single day. Instruments and equipment must be adapted accordingly. Yet because of their connection with nature, many artists still come to Chishang. World-class performers like Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, A-Mei, and U-Theatre, whose shows are often sold out in cities, have all performed among the waves of rice and under glowing sunsets for the land and people of Chishang.
Empowerment and Passing the Baton
As the seasonal activities gradually found their rhythm, the Lovely Taiwan Foundation began to ask whether it could gradually pass the role of organizer back to the local community so that the place itself could take the lead. Chishang has abundant energy but limited experience and networks. To initiate change, the foundation supported the formation of a grassroots organization in late 2015, dedicated to promoting culture and the arts, and helping the community build curatorial skills and organizational structure.
In 2017, the Chih Shang (Chishang) Township Taitung County Culture and Art Association was established. From then on, the Autumn Harvest Art Festival and the Picnic & Music Festival have been organized by the association. This year’s event, themed “Nurtured by Spring: Embrace the Mountains, Sun, and Breeze,” features singers Christine Hsu and Hao-En Wu as lead performers, followed by the Wulu Primary School choir and the local Kulumaha band. This year also included a special collaboration with the Taiwan Society of Home Health Care, which had just opened a rural clinic in Chishang, co-hosting a health-themed activity to offer new experiences for the local residents.
Challenge Taiwan: Welcome Triathletes Home
Running isn’t just about reaching the finish line, it’s about the sense of “coming home.” Every April, Challenge Taiwan, an international triathlon event, draws athletes from across the globe, forging a deep connection with the land through the ocean breeze, sunshine, and the cheers of support.
“Welcome Home!” This phrase is featured every year in Challenge Taiwan’s messaging. "Why do we want everyone to gather here year after year?" asked Jovi, CEO of Challenge Taiwan. Now in its 13th year, he reflects on the race’s mission – beyond focusing on the athletes, Challenge Taiwan is also dedicated to engaging their families. It was the first triathlon in Taiwan to allow participants to cross the finish line hand-in-hand with their loved ones. Over time, a family member might transition from being a supporter to becoming an athlete themselves, or be inspired to bring others to Taitung to experience its beauty firsthand.
This endurance sport that combines swimming, cycling, and running not only tests athletes’ physical strength and willpower, but also brings them closer to the mountains and sea of Taitung along the race route. The competition begins at Flowing Lake, a rare still-water lake in Taiwan. Cyclists then head north along Provincial Highway 11, riding through Dulan Mountain and the vast Pacific coastline with distances reaching up to 180 kilometers. The final running segment takes athletes through the beautiful Taitung Forest Park, city streets, and Taitung Seashore Park.
Beyond the Race
During the week of Challenge Taiwan, nearly 45,000 people travel into Taitung, including 800 volunteers from across Taiwan, occupying up to 12,000 room nights. Jovi shared that although Challenge Taiwan is 2–3-day annual event, their investment in the local community goes far beyond the economic benefits brought by the race. In recent years, they have entered schools, supported rural baseball teams, and contributed to sports education and group development. In 2025, Challenge Taiwan introduced a “donation-based registration” option where participants’ entry fees were donated directly to local organizations. Over NT$600,000 was raised transforming the race’s momentum into tangible support for the community.
Challenge Taiwan isn’t just a race for triathletes, it represents a mindset that extends beyond competition. “We hope this event becomes a catalyst for people to engage in meaningful change,” says Jovi.
In the past, Challenge Taiwan would turn discarded disposable cups into plastic pellets and repurpose them into backpacks and other items. “I came to understand that it was a feel-good gesture rather than something truly impactful,” Jovi admits. “If these products are necessary, why not design them better from the start?” The goal shifted – create items so attractive and practical that people won’t want to discard them in the first place. The event now uses unlaminated, fully recyclable paper cups produced by a local Taitung supplier. These seemingly small decisions reflect a deeper commitment to sustainability so the race can leave the land better than it was found.
How Can We Treat the Land a Little Better?
“Welcome Home.” As Jovi said, “When you truly care about your home, you’re not just a passerby.” The events that unfold each spring in Taitung, year after year, are no longer just activities, but have transformed into movements fueled by the continuous efforts of residents and supporters. They don’t seek scale or spectacle, but instead ask the simplest of questions: How can we treat the land a little better? Whether it’s through the slow food movement, music festivals, or triathlon challenges, we see how people are engaging in dialogue with the land living with richness, flavor, and meaning and creating a place where both locals and visitors feel at home.
Date: April 19, 2025 (Saturday) - April 20, 2025 (Sunday)
Location: Chenggong Seaside Park
Date: April 26, 2025 (Saturday)
Location: Dapo Pond, Chishang
Date: April 26, 2025 (Saturday) - April 27, 2025 (Sunday)
Location: Flowing Lake, Provincial Highway 11, Taitung Forest Park, Taitung city, Taitung Seashore Park
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