Vancouver’s annual exploration of Taiwanese identity, TAIWANfest, seems to have adapted well to this pandemic.

This year, it's gone virtual with a smorgasbord of video presentations delving into arts, culture, food, film, literature, and current affairs. It begins on Saturday (September 5) and runs through to September 27.

Former Cirque du Soleil member Hsing-Ho Chen will deliver one of the festival’s “artist talks”, reflecting on his experience as the only Taiwanese member of the famed acrobatic troupe.

Charismatic Vancouver conductor Ken Hsieh is scheduled to discuss what goes on in his mind and heart as he leads an orchestra. Other speakers include PuSh Festival founder Norman Armour, children’s musician Ginalina, and 2010 Vancouver Cultural Olympiad artistic director Robert Kerr.

The Asian-Canadian Special Events Association, which organizes the festival, has also lined up a series of “hope talks”. Among the presenters will be UBC department of Asian studies professor Bruce Rusk and scientist Tse-Yi Wang.

In addition, conductor Nicholas Urquhart will lead Vancouver’s Harmonia orchestra, which will be joined Taiwan’s Indigenous Chin-Ai String Orchestra in a digital premiere that reaches across the Pacific Ocean.

It will all be available on the TAIWANfest YouTube and Facebook pages. For more information—and to view visual arts by Lady Hao Hao, Yen-Chun Lu, and Tong Zhou—visit VancouverTAIWANfest.ca.