In the 20th century, the Beitou Hot Spring Museum was the largest public hot spring bathhouse in East Asia back then; now, it has become an important cultural venue in the region by recording the history with its architecture. (Picture provided：北投溫泉博物館)

Zhaogia Zhong, director of the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, is committed to sorting out the local history and interpreting the "Beitou Nalang Festival" in its modern form.

However, compiling the history is one thing, and organizing the Naliang Festival is another difficult task. Despite this, for the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, organizing the Beitou Nalang Festival is not only a historical legacy and echo, but also a contribution to the local industry. "There is a huge difference in the number of visitors between the low and peak seasons in Beitau. I think that the Beitau Hot Spring Museum, as a local venue, has a great responsibility for the development of the local industry, in addition to cultural promotion. We hope that by recreating the Naliang Festival, we could iron out a summer brand for Beitou and attract more people to visit Beitou," said Zhong. "With this in mind, we have been compiling past data and exploring the past summer scenes in Beitou. From the context of Beitau's history, we think about how to pass on the local history and interpret it according to this era and how to solve the problems of the local industry. In fact, many festivals nowadays are born out of nothing, but finding the origin of the past, and then passing it on and innovating is what we hope to achieve through the Naliang Festival.”

The Beitou Hot Spring Museum expects to make the "Beitou Naliang Festival" a sustainable summer brand in Beitou through a public-private partnership.

Public-Private Partnership to Create a Sustainable Beitou Naliang Festival

However, for the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, the heritage and innovation of the Beitou Naliang Festival is more than just finding the origin of the past. It is crucial to shape the appearance of the modern Naliang Festival with the joint participation of local partners at this time. "We hope to bring together more local partners and businesses to explore the prosperity of the past and continue to innovate on this basis," said Zhong. In doing so, she also emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships. She said, "Public venues and private enterprises have their own limitations and different missions. Through public-private partnerships, we can each be responsible for what we are good at. For example, the Beitou Hot Spring Museum is the most appropriate place for cultural work that requires a long time commitment, such as document collection and organization. On the other hand, private enterprises can attract more tourists to visit through a flexible and dynamic approach."

Besides working with local businesses, the non-profit organizations in Beitou are also valuable partners for the Beitou Hot Spring Museum.

"Apart from eating and drinking at the marketplace, we also invited the non-profit organizations in Beitou to share their ongoing commitment through small games," she said. Through this kind of cooperation, the modern Naliang Festival is not only a summer festival, but also a window into the culture of Beitou and local happenings.

It is worth mentioning that while building the summer brand of Beitou Naliang Festival, "sustainability" is also an issue of concern for the Beitou Hot Spring Museum. The most concrete and subtle manifestation of this is the period of the Beitou Naliang Festival - unlike many places where the event lasts for only one day, the Beitou Nalang Festival lasts for more than a month. "We hope to extend the duration of the event to avoid the influx of visitors simultaneously within few days, so that we can take into account the quality of life of the local residents and the burden of the businesses,” said Zhong.“In recent years, everyone is talking about sustainable development, I believe that Beitou, with its long history and the support of local residents and businesses, has enough energy to live up to this ideal at the Beitou Naliang Festival."

The Beitou Hot Spring Museum has worked with many local partners in promoting the Beitou Nalang Festival, and Tokumitsu Shigehito, Director of Radium Kagaya International Hotel is a key pusher.

In the Summer Heat, Let's Find a Reason to Get Together

If sustainability and industrial revival are the hopes of the Beitou Hot Spring Museum for the Beitou Naliang Festival, then perhaps what is most important to Tokumitsu Shigehito, Director of Radium Kagaya International Hotel, is how to leave a fond memory of the Beitou Naliang Festival in the minds of children.

Speaking of the Naliang Festival, he recalled, "In mid-August every year, Japan celebrates the Bon （お盆）Festival holiday for about a week. People working all over the country return to their hometowns for tomb-sweeping and reunions. During this time, there are also events held throughout the country. Although the contents vary, most of them are held in local parks, where people wear yukata （ゆかた）and dance the Bon festival dance （盆踊り）together. Here we meet up with our childhood friends, have fun, and talk about what's going on with each other. It's kind of like finding a reason to get back together."

For Japanese people, the Naliang Festival is a wonderful opportunity for people scattered far and wide to get together. However, Tokumitsu Shigehito emphasizes that the most important thing for the Beitou Naliang Festival is not to recreate Japanese culture, but to explore the local life in Beitou and reinterpret the current Beitou Naliang Festival. After all, the most direct way for people who are passionate about Japanese culture is to visit Japan to experience the original Naliang activities. The Beitau Naliang Festival is not a replica of its counterpart in Japan, but an annual festival based on local history that is worthy of participation and rendition by travelers and local residents alike. For example, Radium Kagaya has previously introduced fun activities such as water balloon fishing, pellet playing, and paper sumo wrestling, which have become fond memories for many people. "When planning the event, we pay special attention to the children, because they often have a deep impression of their childhood experiences. We also hope that the Beitou Naliang Festival will become a lifelong memory for them," said Tokumitsu Shigehito.

A century ago, at the Naliang Festival, the splendid fireworks in the dark night were the most beautiful memories for the visitors on Beitau Hot Spring Street. Nowadays, this small healing town is going to create a festival that belongs to this generation. The Naliang Festival will be retained in the hearts of residents, in the minds of travelers, and perhaps in the memories of many children, as the most fascinating festival in modern Beitou.

Tokumitsu Shigehito, a Japanese expatriate in Taiwan for many years, believes that although the Beitou Naliang Festival has its roots in Japanese culture, the local stories must be integrated into the festival to make it an irreplaceable local celebration.