Organizers of the Yilan International Children’s Folklore and Folkgame Festival announced their wish to have the festival officially recognized by UNESCO, as the curtain drew on the local festival amid much fanfare Aug. 15.
A record number of 50,000 visitors attended the last weekend of the 44-day event, enjoying the northeastern county’s water park while watching outdoor dances and performances. These included shows by groups from Bolivia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand and Turkey, as well as the 44-year-old Yilan County-based Lan Yang Dance Troupe.
The total visit numbers hit 586,530, the fifth highest since YICF’s launch in 1996, bringing relief to festival organizers. The event resumed this year after a two-year hiatus caused by the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, typhoons and Great Recession.
The festival’s resumption also drew enthusiastic cooperation from local residents, who played host to 18 performance groups from 16 countries.
“We will continue the festival next year with more innovative programs,” Yilan County Magistrate Lin Tsung-hsien said at the closing ceremony. Lin, who was elected to the post last year, played a major role in restarting the festival.
He announced that the government would apply for recognition of the event as a UNESCO-sanctioned folk festival in November.
“If we make it, the festival would be the first to be recognized in Asia,” said Jean Lee, vice CEO of the Lanyang Educational and Cultural Foundation, the main festival organizer.
“UNESCO's International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folkarts (CIOFF)currently has 89 members,” she said, adding that fewer than a dozen festivals are sanctioned by the organization.
“Over 70 CIOFF members have taken part in the Yilan festival since its inception,” Lee said. “We believe that our chances of being recognized are favorable.”
