2026 Vancouver TAIWANfest

Gather with family and friends in Downtown Vancouver from September 5-7 for TAIWANfest!

Enjoy a three-day celebration weaving together island heritage, music, and stories from Taiwan, Canada, and Scotland. Feel the energy of live music featuring acclaimed Taiwanese Indigenous trio Nanwang Sisters, high-energy indie rock queer band P!SCO, and award-winning Taiwanese indie band Zixuan & Slow Train. Dive into discussions on identity, heritage reclamation and history, explore hands-on craft workshops, discover unique creations at the Artist Market, and walk through cultural exhibitions that bring shared stories to life.

Join us in Downtown Vancouver for a weekend of music, art, and storytelling!

• TAIWANfest Opening Event: When the Mountains Sing – 2026 TAIWANfest presents a night of music featuring award-winning music groups from Taiwan. Nanwang Sisters will share songs from the Pinuyumayan tribe and a legacy for Taiwanese Indigenous music groups to shine on stage. ZiXuan & Slow Train fuse their mother tongue into contemporary music styles, where elders and youth alike can experience Hakka with a “new soul”.
• Performances:Award-winning music artists from Taiwan singing in their mother tongue will be featured at the Opening Event. Discover the sounds of Formosa with Indigenous vocal trio Nanwang Sisters and Hakka band ZiXuan & Slow Train.

  Get ready to dance along with Taiwanese indie rock band P!SCO, and the two-night TECTONIC programming of street dance battle and DJ collective. Join a dance workshop or two with Royal Scottish Country Dance Society and Flamenco Rosario. Discover cross-cultural fusion with Silk Road Music and BC Chinese Chamber Ensemble. Sing along to our choir flash mobs right on Granville Street!

• Workshops: Michelin-recommended Hakka chef from Taiwan Ted Liao presents a handcrafted cola-making workshop where Hakka flavours are reinterpreted. Award-winning musician ZiXuan Huang will share insights on how to write fresh Hakka songs. Learn about Taiwanese tea, Japanese craft, Scottish and Flamenco dance, and more.
• Exhibitions:Explore Taiwanese history and culture from new perspectives! TAIWANfest presents a series of Hope Talks and Exhibitions that uncover the hidden historical connections between Scotland, Taiwan, and Canada.

  Did you know that Scottish missionaries influenced Taiwan’s healthcare education? What does the heritage architectures left by Scottish-Canadian George Leslie Mackay in northern Taiwan reveal about cross-cultural connections? Learn more from photographs provided by the Changhua Christian Hospital and from professor Li Chien-lang’s architectural paintings.

  Does Scottish tartan or Hakka floral fabric truly represent the people of these cultures? How do our perceptions of influential historical figures change over time? Find out more at our Cultural Symbols or Stereotypes and Heroic Narratives interactive exhibitions.

• Hope Talks:Dive into our cultural dialogue through Hope Talks presented by scholars, writers, and artists.

  Learn how music is used to preserve mother tongues like Taiwanese Indigenous languages and Hakka, or how live performances can create space for the LGBTQ+ community to be themselves. Music artists from Taiwan of different generations will share their stories to Canadian audiences for the first time.

  In a Dialogue with Scotland, Dr. Leith Davis, Director of the Centre for Scottish Studies at SFU, will give a lecture on the history of the Jacobite Uprisings through the perspective of traditional music. Mimi Sung of the Tainan Theological College will trace the legacies of Scottish missionaries in Taiwan, from healthcare to churches to colleges.

  Taiwanese diaspora writers Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho, Julia Lin, and Ed Lin will take part in a live panel to discuss how they navigate cultural identity through storytelling. Taiwanese queer novelist Nathalie Chang (Chang Yi-Hsum) invites different generations of the diaspora community to join a discussion on the connections between literature, gender identity, and womanhood.

• Gender Equity & Queer Programming:Sometimes topics such as gender identity and queer visibility are hard to bring up in Taiwanese and Asian diaspora communities. TAIWANfest invites everyone into the conversation with free, inclusive programming.

  Taiwanese indie band P!SCO brings a high-energy performance where the LGBTQ+ community and allies can dance freely together. Come and draw a Taiwanese fortune, and help us bridge the gap between generations with words!

  Celebrated queer novelist Nathalie Chang (Chang Yi-Hsum) presents a lecture on the intersections of culture, gender, and power through literature from East Asia. Researcher at the National Museum of Prehistory Sung-En Lin will share her experience collaborating with Indigenous communities in Taiwan, including the transformative role of women. Immigrants, newcomers, and 1.5+ gen diaspora community members are encouraged to join the discussion.

Who is it for?

All ages

Tickets : Free

Opening Event: $19.08 – $24.24

How to get tickets?

Buy online

 

Date: Saturday September 5, 2026 to Monday September 7, 2026

9/5 – 9/6 12pm to 10pm
9/7 12pm – 6pm

TAIWANfest Opening Event: When the Mountains Sing – Saturday September 5, 2026 | 7pm – 10pm

Venue & Address

Downtown Vancouver, Vancouver

šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square (North of the Vancouver Art Gallery), Granville Street, Vancouver

Wheelchair accessible

Accessible by Public Transport