Sun, Surf, and Rock and Roll--Hohaiyan Gung-liau Rock Festival

The music may not have started yet, but the beach is already awash with crowds of people. Guys in swim shorts and girls in bikinis splash about in the water, soak up some rays, or chow down on snacks. It's not just the sun-worshippers filling the beach, either-there's no shortage of vendors flogging their wares from stalls on the sand too.

As the sun climbs overhead, sales of beer start picking up, and the beach is full of reddening faces-some from sunburn, and some from the drink. On the sand, people move and sway as though dancing, despite the music still not having kicked off.

At long last, at about 5 p.m., giant speaker racks pump out a mighty roar-an odd, unclear note-and then the lead singer of the band on-stage screams "Hey boys and girls! We're about to get this thing started!" At this, the human tide gradually makes its way up to the stage at the end of the beach.

Festivals like this hit Taiwan twice a year. This year, aside from the County Government, the "headliners" of the festival include 54 foreign and local acts; the Taiwan Railway Administration, providing additional trains; and the retailers of Fulong, who say that the money they make in these three days is enough to keep them fed for a year.

The big difference between Hohaiyan and similar festivals overseas is that, since it's funded by the government, it doesn't try and push any sort of social consciousness agenda. No, Hohaiyan is just about relaxing at the beach with some tunes.

At the core of it, this "sloganeering-free" rock event is essentially the Taipei County Government's way of keeping track of cultural trends. Tapping the public coffers, they put on a massive outdoor concert event to give independent artists a chance to strut their stuff, while also promoting Kungliao's local industries.

Taiwan doesn't seem to get into the whole beach leisure thing, but still year after year this family-friendly event pulls in more and more people. This year total attendance was close to 300,000, far beyond what the organizers had anticipated.

Also, in an effort to promote independent creative endeavor, the festival holds the annual "Hohaiyan Indie Music Awards." This full-day event is the festival's "big number," and is also a great chance to get in tune with current trends in local music.

The ten bands that took part in the finals this year continued the lively and interactive tradition of gigs at Hohaiyan, while also showing off the many faces of modern Taiwanese youth music. The other defining characteristic of the finals' sets was the way they illustrated the rise of the female rocker in Taiwan. As well as being the creative forces behind the melodies and lyrics, the ladies were slinging guitars, working basses, and more notably, behind the mike. Of the ten groups in the finals, four had female lead singers. After a marathon six-hour contest on July 17, eventually female-led band Jasmine Music walked off with top honors, with the Judge's Choice and People's Choice awards going to Sodagreen and Dream Route respectively.

While in the past "indie" has been the key word at the contest, this year organizers changed things a little, allowing signed bands to take part. And as it turned out, most of the bands that made the finals had already signed with record companies or agents. These bands all have the kind of solid gigging experience that bands in past years' contests could only have dreamed about, and their performances were all pretty much at the same high level.

Ten years ago, Kenting saw the birth of Spring Scream. Later on, Formoz Festival and Hohaiyan Gung-liau Rock Festival joined the chorus, and all three have become big annual events. And with the Tibetan Freedom Concert having made its way to Taiwan last year, it seems that with Taiwan's lack of a major arena, massive outdoor concerts are taking root here and becoming a part of our popular culture.

It's a scream! The sand underfoot, the sun overhead, and a crowd of screaming young people; this is the scene every year at the Hohaiyan Gung-liau Rock Festival, as the distance between the people of Taiwan and the sea shrinks to nothing. This photo shows Singer Sandee Chen mid-performance.