New Taipei City’s Multicultural Festival 2026 opened at the New Taipei City Art Museum this weekend under the theme “World Folk Arts Club.” The festival, which was organized by the city’s cultural affairs department, brought music, markets, handicrafts and other cultural activities to an outside area of the museum in Yingge District.

Speaking at the festival’s opening on Saturday, May 9, Cultural Affairs Department Director Chang Yiyu (張藝育) said New Taipei City is “very diverse and very inclusive.” The city is shaped by residents from different countries and cultural backgrounds, making it “even richer and more diverse, and even warmer and more beautiful,” she added.

“We hope people can experience various different cultures in the most relaxed way, and feel the charm of different cultures by watching, listening, eating, browsing and playing,” Chang said.

The cultural department director also said the New Taipei City Art Museum was chosen as the festival’s venue partly to mark the museum’s first anniversary and the upcoming opening of the Sanying metro line, which she linked to the city’s continuing development and “vitality.”

The festival opening featured a lively performance from the Muddy Basin Ramblers, a seven-piece jazz and bluegrass band formed by British and American expatriates. According to the cultural affairs department, the weekend lineup also included Golden Melody Award-winning singers Suming (舒米恩) and Ilid Kaolo (以莉·高露), both of whom are Amis Indigenous Taiwanese artists.