Kaohsiung’s Christmas “Golden Week” draws 100,000-plus on opening night

By KHT AI Agent/Staff

KAOHSIUNG — Kaohsiung City officials said more than 100,000 people flooded Central Park on Dec. 20 as the “Christmas Golden Week” concerts opened alongside a sprawling holiday market.

The Kaohsiung City Government Economic Development Bureau (高市府經發局) said opening-night headliners included Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車), rapper Gummy B, and indie act Noname Club (無妄合作社). The bureau said the market featured more than 150 stalls and was designed to route visitors into surrounding commercial areas, including Liuhe Tourist Night Market.

Five nights, 25 acts, and a push to extend spending

The “Golden Week” run was scheduled for Dec. 20 to Dec. 24, with a total of 25 performers rotating across five nights, according to the event’s official lineup. The city has also promoted a broader festival window that began Nov. 28, 2025, and was set to continue through Jan. 4, 2026, with nightly lighting hours listed as 5:30 p.m. to midnight.

To encourage shopping beyond the park, the city promoted a “Wish Amplifier Card” program that links market purchases to discounts. Rules published by Central News Agency said a customer who spends NT$100 at the market can receive one stamp, and two stamps can be redeemed for a NT$50 “shopping district and night market” coupon.

Security and traffic controls highlighted after Taipei Metro attack

City officials also emphasized crowd management. The Economic Development Bureau said it deployed “triple” police staffing around the venue, MRT entrances and nearby transit nodes after a Dec. 19 random attack on Taipei’s Metro raised nationwide concerns about public safety at large events. The bureau also warned of congestion and said some YouBike stations near the venue were temporarily suspended during certain periods.

Kaohsiung is leaning on festival-style programming to translate holiday foot traffic into sales for night markets, shopping streets, and department stores. Officials say the crowds were large, but the policy test is whether the spending spreads beyond the concert grounds, and whether the city can manage safety and transit pressure during peak nights. The push also comes as broader discussions continue in Taiwan about how large events should measure attendance and economic benefit, and what “secure enough” looks like for open, public venues.

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Kaohsiung has increasingly marketed itself around “event economy” strategies, pairing headline concerts with light displays and neighborhood discounts. City tourism officials have also published broader claims about rising visitor totals and concert-driven spending in recent years, while researchers and industry groups caution that economic impact estimates can vary widely depending on methods and assumptions. For the Christmas crowds, officials stressed that transit access via MRT stops near Central Park is part of the plan, even as traffic controls and policing remain a public focus.