Chthonic Headlined a 90,000+ Person Festival in Taiwan Last Weekend
As the pandemic rages on in most of the world, music festivals have returned in some parts that have done a better job managing it than others. In Taiwan, the Megaport Festival took place this past weekend (March 27 and 28), which saw around 90,000 people attend per day, according to vocalist Freddy Lim of the country’s best internationally known metal act, Chthonic, who headlined the event.
Megaport, held in the city of Kaohsiung, takes place every March and has become an iconic outdoor music event in Taiwan. The festival features a variety of genres, but also included Taiwanese rock and metal acts such as Beyond Cure, Infernal Chaos and Crescent Lament.
Lim tells MetalSucks that attendees were still keeping it safe despite being in close contact with each other at the outdoor event. “People were required to wear masks at the festival, and most of the people wear masks spontaneously anyway,” says Lim. “But there were still staff there to remind people to wear them.”
The pandemic isn’t completely out of the public’s eye in Taiwan. Megaport masks were sold on the festival’s website prior to the event.
As of this week, Taiwan has had just over 1,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic with only one recent new case. There have been only 10 deaths on the island caused by the coronavirus.
Posting on Facebook, the band said, “With music, we make the world better! United, the world will get better soon! Taiwan’s with you!”
Due to ongoing travel restrictions, the festival did not feature any acts coming in from abroad.
Chthonic are now taking pre-orders for a special “anti-epidemic” merch set, which includes a black armor mask, multi-colored masks (15), a mask chain, mask storage folders (2), portable mask storage boxes (2), a spray can, and the 2021 Megaport Festival Live Album.
Large outdoor festivals have been popping up more frequently overseas. The CubaDupa festival in New Zealand also took place last weekend without any restrictions.
