A-Mei Tribal group is the largest in Taiwan with its people distributed mostly along the east coast of Taiwan, and Taibalang tribe is the largest of the A-Mei group. I wasn't planning to stop over at any site along my way back to Taipei but a friend said he was going to be photographing Taibalang's annual festival, and asked me to stop by, so I did. A-Mei tribes typically have their annual festivals between July and August and I missed most of them since they are usually earlier in the summer, so this is one chance I have to visit one. The annual festival is their version of the new year as they celebrate the past and look forward to the future. Tribal folks will return home from all over Taiwan to be apart of this festival and therefore this is a big reunion for them. They dance, eat and drink, follow specific rules and conduct specific rituals. Most of the time, outsiders only get to see the most typical performances. You have to be a part of the family to participate in the more specific rituals.
Nevertheless, as I've photographed the smaller one at Taitung, the atmosphere and vibe is exactly the same, except in a much larger scale. People return and reunite, eager to see each other again. They dress in very vibrant traditional clothing waiting for their turn to perform group dances, from men, women to children. It's a mission to them, not just a ritual, to perform as a group and be proud.
A side note was, since this was a major event for local folks, and that politics sticks its dirty hands everywhere, both the mayor and one of the presidential candidates showed up, so did lots of reporters and journalists.
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