Taichung Light Festival 臺中光影藝術節

Taichung has had a busy October. Last week was the Taichung Jazz Festival, and this weekend just gone was the Taichung Light Festival. Both are major events for the city, but as to why they are organised so close together, and ends on the same Sunday beats me. Nevertheless, I managed to get to both events, so no complaints there.
台中光影藝術節剛在這個週末舉辦完畢。跟往年一樣，光影騷以台中舊車站作為背景。我在星期日最後一天吃過晚飯後來趁熱鬧。當我到達時，車站廣場前面已擠滿人群，很多人一家大小一起來到看光影騷。 光影騷每隔半小時播放一次，每次長達十分鐘。這個騷非常富有動感，七彩繽紛變幻無窮的圖案打射到車站上，有如一個巨大的萬花筒。我覺得這是一個百看不厭的騷，看完一次後， 有點意猶未盡 的感覺。 結果呆在車站前繼續看第二次。 以下跟大家分享我拍了當晚的照片及視頻，希望你會喜歡。

TAICHUNG TRAIN STATION

This is the second year the Taichung Light Festival is held at the old train station where the building was used as a backdrop for the laser show. The Taichung train station was built in 1908, hence in my video below you can see the count down from that year.

If you remember from my previous post, Taiwan used to be a Japanese colony, and in those days the Japanese had already started to send people to study overseas in Europe and UK. This included architects, and upon their return home, many buildings were influenced by their studies and experience abroad. Taiwan being a colony, got their fair share of the European/Japanese red brick fusion style buildings. The Taichung train station was amongst the many others built during that period.

A couple of years ago, a new station terminal was built next to the old one. In this photo, you can see the contrast of the old and new. Thankfully, the authorities have decided to retain the old station. It isn't such a big building anyway, but packs heaps of character and history, so its great to see them care about at preserving history and architecture.

GETTING READY FOR THE SHOW

Back to the Light festival. This year it was held on 19th October Friday through to 21st October Sunday. On each evening, there were nine laser shows starting every half an hour. I arrived after dinner, around 7.50pm and the next show was due to start at 8pm. The crowd was already building up. I only managed to grab a spot towards the back and waited for the show to start. Each show last for 10 minutes and my other half kindly agreed to take a video for me. Here's a screen capture from the video. The entire station was used as the screen backdrop and we could get a good view of the laser show. I have to say, the show was nothing short of exhilarating.

After the 10 minute show, I hanged around to take some more photos and to feel the vibe around the crowd. Before I knew it, it was nearly 8.30pm, time for the next show to start. I figured with such a great show, why not watch it twice? This time, I managed to get a spot right in front of the station. There was a small stage there, probably used for the opening ceremony, and a few people were already sitting there. I sat behind a few girls, and positioned my GoPro on the ground which got me a great front row seat, albeit a narrower angle than before.

SNIPPETS FROM THE TAICHUNG LIGHT FESTIVAL

Here are some photos I took on my mobile phone as I was watching the show.

AND HERE'S THE VIDEO...

You want to see more? Here's the second video I took. I've edited out the first four minute because that was rather slow. It wasn't boring, but I figured you may not want to sit through the whole 10 minutes. The video starts off at a 1908 countdown to 2018, and gets much livelier and energetic after the first minute. I'm pleasantly surprised with the sound quality of the GoPro and have to say the video effect is pretty much like the live show. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

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