Much of 2020 has been a downer, but you can still end it off with a bang.

Defying the odds of the coronavirus, the 2020 installment of Taiwanese showcase music festival LUCFest is still taking place from 27 to 29 November. Held in the historical coastal city of Tainan, it is said to be the “only live music festival showcase during these extraordinary times”.

The 3-day event sees a 60 emerging and established Taiwanese acts across 7 different stages around the city. Headliners include the likes of popular shoegaze outfit Sunset Rollercoaster, electropop trio Jade Eyes, I Mean Us and Go Go Machine Orchestra, to name a few.

To better engage the music community, LUCFest has also prepared more than 10 showcase performances and 8 professional music forums for the event such as panels, workshops and networking events featuring music artists, record companies, labels, festival curators and media. 

On the ability to execute LUCFest, festival director Weining Hung said that they “feel extremely privileged that LUCfest can still happen physically in 2020” and that it “would not have been possible if not for the hard work and collaborative effort by the Taiwanese government and people that the current situation seems under control”. 

For a country of 23 million, Taiwan currently has less than 500 cases of the coronavirus and 7 deaths. Most of the cases have recovered. Just last month, Eric Chou held his first post-COVID full-capacity concerts over two dates, both sold out with an attendance of 11,000 and 22,000 people respectively.

Read Weining Hung’s full statement on the festival here:

We feel extremely privileged that LUCfest can still happen physically in 2020, being probably the only physical showcase festival in Asia. This would not have been possible if not for the hard work and collaborative effort by the Taiwanese government and people that the current situation seems under control. For a country of 23 million, we had less than 500 cases in total and 7 deaths. As one of few countries holding a physical showcase music festival in 2020, LUCfest acts an important role for continually supporting an artist's live career during the pandemic. Furthermore, we have put in a lot of effort to ensure a safe and unique experience for both artists and fans and aim to have all live performances, conferences and networking forums work according to schedule.

We have had to face many restrictions this year. Normally our line up would consists of a third of international acts and delegates flying in from around the world but it is not possible this year. We had to cut down the capacity of live venues, keep social distancing and the wearing of masks in order to make a festival happen during a pandemic. But there’s nothing better than the luck of still being able to bring live energy to an audience while people in many countries can only join a music show through their monitor. During these tough times, we’ll try our best to keep the music industry alive in a safe and interesting way.