TAIWANfest 2025 Returns to Harbourfront Centre

This August, TAIWANfest 2025 returns to Harbourfront Centre with a fresh perspective on culture, migration, and belonging. Under the theme “Echoes of the Ocean,” this year’s festival goes beyond typical cultural showcases to engage Canadians in meaningful conversations about identity, history, and the complex emotions tied to homeland and diaspora.

TAIWANfest 2025

Toronto TAIWANfest is back! From Aug 22-24 at Harbourfront Centre join us at TAIWANfest: ECHOES OF THE OCEAN in a cultural dialogue with Portugal. Enjoy a weekend of live music from local and Taiwanese artists, and take part in interactive workshops and exhibitions. While you explore, stop by our vibrant TAIWANfest Artist Market. This year’s market brings together creators from Taiwan, Canada, and Japan offering handmade jewellery, prints, crochet, charms, and more.

Event Details

• Dates: August 22 (6 PM – 10 PM), 23 & 24 (12 PM – 10 PM)
• Location: Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
• Price: Free admission
• Website: www.torontotaiwanfest.ca

Performance Line Up

• Rally for Taiwan 拉力台灣: Taiwanese artists perform in Hokkien, Hakka, and Indigenous languages, many of which were once suppressed. This musical gathering is a statement of resilience and solidarity through song.
• TUDI-VOICE, TRAEGO, and Lihaw Lihang: From folk-punk to Indigenous ballads, these artists bring raw emotion and political urgency, pushing back against cultural erasure.
• Echoes of Formosa 咱台灣查某囝: Highlighting Taiwanese Canadian women in music, this concert features heartfelt performances from Chynna Lewis and Van Lefan.
• One Moon, One Song 千里共嬋娟: A unique cross-Pacific collaboration blending jazz and hip-hop, mixing languages and genres to explore identity and memory.

Art Exhibitions

Explore the deeper layers of culture and history through exhibitions such as:

• Traces of Blue: Weaving Cultural Diversity: An indigo dyeing art exhibit that revives Hakka traditions while reflecting on migration and resilience.
• Tiled Memories: The Story of Taiwan in Ceramics: Discover how architectural tiles tell stories of beauty, resistance, and cultural exchange during Taiwan’s Japanese era.
• Not Chinese Taipei: Baseball and the Struggle for Taiwan’s Identity: Learn about how Taiwan’s national sport has been a contested space for global identity politics.
• The Silenced Years: A multimedia exploration connecting Taiwan and Portugal’s histories under authoritarian regimes, echoing the silenced stories of immigrant communities.

Engaging Talks & Conversations

Expand your understanding with talks that connect history, music, and cultural memory:

• Echoes of Longing: A musical dialogue between Portuguese fado and Taiwan’s yueqin exploring themes of diaspora and home.
• Whose Motherland Is It?: Historian Kaim Ang presents rare maps and records to examine Taiwan’s contested history.
• Global Hakka, Local Ties: Dr. Lieh-Shih Lo discusses the relationship between Taiwan’s Hakka and Indigenous peoples.
• Return Home: The Hakka Table and Journeys: Author Chih-Hsin Chang shares stories of migration and heritage through food.

Films, Workshops, and Family Fun

• Dancing Home: A documentary about a choreographer reconnecting with his Indigenous roots and forming a youth dance troupe.
• Silenced Sunrise: A film and talk investigating censorship and identity politics in Taiwan’s music scene.
• Indigo Dye Workshop: Hands-on experience with traditional Hakka dyeing led by artisans.
• Pickling Together: A culinary workshop blending food and ancestral storytelling.
• Tái Lung Cong: The Hakka Table Game: A bilingual board game that introduces Hakka culture in an interactive way.
• Artist Market: Showcasing crafts from local and international artisans, each piece reflecting cultural stories.

Support small businesses and shop for one-of-a-kind pieces inspired by culture and heritage at TAIWANfest 2025. Come celebrate the ties between Taiwan, Portugal, and Canada through innovative perspectives of arts, crafts, and story. Learn more at www.torontotaiwanfest.ca. For more summer festivals to attend this year, check out The Bradford Latin Festival Coming To Public Square This August.

More…

• https://torontotaiwanfest.ca
• https://www.instagram.com/taiwanfest.toronto
• https://www.facebook.com/TAIWANfestToronto