Taiwan’s indigenous communities cherish their traditions, like the annual harvest festivals some groups celebrate every summer. But with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to rage, some are saying postponing these festivals is the best solution, while others are more inclined to call them off altogether.
The harvest festival is a big deal for many of the indigenous peoples in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County. Holding hands and dancing together is the way these communities celebrate the harvest season. But some elders are worried that the close proximity these celebrations put people in could turn them into super-spreading events for COVID-19. Some even suggest canceling the celebrations this year.
In Hualien, there are more than 200 Amis villages that hold a harvest festival some time between July and September. The Hualien County Government says it respects these communities’ decisions about whether to go ahead with their celebrations. But for these villages, postponing is not an option.
Organizers that have tentatively arranged tour groups to join in these festivals say that cancelling would deal a major blow to the tourism industry. The organizers suggest postponing the event until November and then deciding whether to cancel based on how the pandemic has unfolded. Still, others say the best choice is just to wait until the festival season rolls around again next year, by which point they hope the pandemic will have ended.