The opening of the Taipei Arts Festival, "The Elephant Is Coming..." attracted 100,000 people on the first day, and the evacuation caused public complaints. The Taipei City Government urgently optimized the movement routes.

The outdoor masterpiece "The Elephant is Coming..." by the French Oposito Theater Company. (Photo by reporter Wang Yisong)

The opening show of the 2026 Taipei Arts Festival "The Elephant Is Coming..." made its grand debut in Shilin last night. The performance attracted more than 100,000 people on the first day, doubling the performance of the Shilin Night Market business district. However, it caused public complaints due to poor evacuation routes. The Beijing Municipal Government and the Beijing Art Center stated that they held a preparation meeting this morning to fully launch a number of measures to optimize the flow of people and circulation.

The Beijing Municipal Government said that in response to the traffic obstruction and viewing sight problems reported by the people at the scene, today's scene will be flexibly controlled "divided into communities and time periods." In addition to the Shilin Branch's comprehensive increase in the alarm rate at Exit 2 of MRT Shilin Station, Jiantan Station and surrounding moving line nodes, on-site staff will activate the "Full ahead, please watch the broadcast" and "Full ahead, please do not enter" hand sign guidance mechanisms at the core viewing area of ​​Jihe Road and peripheral intersections such as Zhongzheng Road, Chengde Road, and Wenlin Road starting from 18:30 to prevent excessive crowds from stacking on a single road section.

The Taipei City Government mentioned that in response to the crowds along the parade route, officers will strengthen diversion and guide people to the two large-screen broadcast areas at the Taipei Xintiandi parking lot and the Bailing High School playground. For families with strollers and elderly people, priority will be directed to the broadcast area to maintain safety; people going to the broadcast area of ​​Bailing High School can enter from the main gate of Bailing High School on the Chengde Road side.

In addition, the Beiyi Center Plaza area will strengthen efforts to persuade the public not to sit on the floor in front of the main stage for long periods of time to maintain the smooth flow of the viewing area and emergency passages. Each police district will also use towed amplification equipment to increase the volume of on-site publicity to remind the public to pay attention to safety and avoid pushing. In response to the needs of surrounding residents and emergency vehicles, the organizer has also coordinated to extend the emergency response channel to further optimize the flow of residents and vehicles. In order to improve the congestion after the performance, the police will add "crossing crossings" on the fences on both sides of Jihe Road at the end of the performance to facilitate the flow of people crossing the road. They will also make every effort to guide the people leaving the performance to move to the broad road to prevent crowds from flooding into the surrounding narrow alleys.

The Taipei City Government emphasized that "The Elephant Is Coming..." is an important opening program of the 2026 Taipei Arts Festival, and today (6th) evening will be the final performance of the work. It is recommended that the public make good use of the Bailing High School playground and the Taipei Xintiandi parking lot broadcast area, or lock in the "Taipei Performing Arts Center official YouTube channel online simultaneous live broadcast from 19:14 to 20:45."