The Taiwan Banana Festival will take place June 18 and 19 in Kaohsiung’s Qishan District, with a carnival, exhibits and sales to help re-establish Taiwan as a world leader in the fruit, according to the Council of Agriculture.
The COA’s Agriculture and Food Agency held a warm-up activity in the square in front of the Hanshen Dome in Kaohsiung June 14. Shi Jie-yi, who won fifth place in a youth baking competition in Hungary last year, was invited to attend the event to promote local bananas. Shi made a chocolate banana cake decorated with Taiwan’s famous moth orchids.
Li Cang-lang, secretary-general of the AFA, pointed out that Taiwan each year produces 250,000 metric tons of bananas, with 10,000 metric tons exported to Japan. The government, he said, hopes to gradually develop markets in mainland China. Bananas are grown on about 11,000 hectares of land here, with most banana plantations located in Taichung or further south, or on the eastern coast in Taitung. More than 1,000 hectares of land are devoted to growing bananas in Qishan, he said, making it the largest producer of bananas in Taiwan.
A number of activities are already under way, such as baking contests and a poetry competition with bananas as the theme. The festival is also aimed at creating a more diverse range of uses for bananas. The main event will be held over the weekend when a banana carnival and expo will be held at the Qishan District Sports Field.
Films will be shown that depict banana farming decades ago and Taiwan’s history of exporting bananas. A photo exhibit of old banana farms will also be held, while elders from the Qishan area will tell stories related to bananas, helping people better understand the golden age for Taiwan bananas in the 1960s and 1970s.
(This article originally appeared June 15 in The Liberty Times.)