There were a lot of great moments at this years TaiwanFest, but for the directing manager of the event, there was one that stood out.
When conductor Ken Hseih brought out the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra with a Taiwanese percussion group and ballet dancers, Charlie Wu says, that kind of thing inspires me. You have these groups playing very different types of music and they performed together for the first time. I think that helps build community.
Its building community that is a big mandate of TaiwanFest and its also a big focus of VIVA Vancouver, which blocks off Granville Street every weekend for the summers months, allowing events like TaiwanFest be held in the central area.
We saw a lot of people come down this year I think more than previous years, says Charles Gauthier, president and CEO of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Area (DVBIA), which works with the city to hold VIVA Granville. I think a lot of that had to do with the fantastic weather we had, but also because of the great programming and events that took place this year.
Its not just about closing the street and not having any motorized vehicles on it; its really about fostering the arts community and benefitting local businesses, he adds.
Along with TaiwanFest, which wrapped up the VIVA season, Latincouver, the HUB Bike Rodeo, Five Hole for Food and the International Busker Festival energized the street this summer. Programming also included HULA!, an interactive installation with 200 hula hoops, and Upcycled Urbanism, a participatory project that allowed people to transform the street using salvaged polystyrene blocks.
VIVA on Granville Street is really a great incubator for local community and arts groups to try something different, Gauthier explains. We have such a vibrant arts community that covers everything visual arts, performing arts and everything else. We need to give these people the opportunity to experiment, to try different things and express themselves and thats what this does.
But VIVA isnt limited to Granville Street with its reprogramming of public spaces, changing the functionality of spots all around the city.
VIVA is an important part of optimizing our public spaces and transforming our streets into people places, says Karyn Magnusson, director of Street Use at the City of Vancouver. Were very proud of what the VIVA team has accomplished with the diversity of spaces and programing that reaches so many neighbourhoods in our city.
Granville Street, the street murals in Marpole, the new farmers market in Yaletown, the new parklets and of course the fantastic rainbow crosswalks and pedestrian plaza at Bute and Robson are all examples of what the team has accomplished by working with strategic partners like many of our BIAs and Translink.
While VIVA Granville wrapped up on the Labour Day weekend with TaiwainFest, VIVA will continue into the fall with two more murals in Marpole later this month, the new farmers market in Yaletown on Mainland Street until the end of September, the much-Instagrammed rainbow crosswalks on Davie and Bute, and installing more public seating parklet spots (Magnusson says businesses in Kitsilano, Commercial Drive, Yaletown, downtown and Mount Pleasant have applied to design and install their own unique seating installations in on-street parking spaces.)
Wu says that since partnering with VIVA Granville four years ago, they have noticed an increase in TaiwainFest attendees.
Its been great, he says. The location is a more accessible space and we are seeing more people noticing us. This location provides an opportunity for us to share (the Taiwanese culture) with Vancouverites and also provides our community to learn about the downtown culture as well there are people coming to the festival who would never come downtown if it wasnt for TaiwanFest.
