Indonesians living in Taiwan came together to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day at 2/28 Peace Park, Taipei on Sunday.
The event, organised as an Indonesian Independence Day “Art and Culture Festival”, attracted hundreds of people who joined in the traditional performances.
Activities at the festival included the Tiger Mask and Peacock Dance, martial arts, poetry recitals as well as a catwalk contest in which contestants dressed up in traditional Indonesian gowns, Central News Agency reported. A fish cake eating competition also took place, as did a performance of West Javanese dancing.
Indonesian Independence Day is August 17, but the event was organised for Sunday August 19 to allow many migrant workers to attend on their day off work.
Robert James Bintaryo, the Indonesian Representative in Taiwan, said he was delighted to see Taiwanese locals taking part in the celebrations.
According to Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency, there were 235,674 Indonesians in Taiwan as of July 2018, 74% of whom were female. Many of the Indonesians living in Taiwan work as fishermen, caregivers and factory workers.