Taipei, Aug. 29 (CNA) The 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade will end Wednesday with fireworks, a religious ritual and performances of dance and music at the closing ceremony, according to the organizers.
After 11 days of sports competitions, the Universiade cauldron will be extinguished in a religious ceremony that draws on the Chinese folk tradition of "seeing off the gods."
During the ritual, large statues of Chinese deities will be paraded to saxophone and Chinese suona music that will include the Hakka "eight notes" and ancient indigenous melodies, according to Kay Huang, musical director of the closing ceremony.
"Having many gods come together to protect Taiwan is an important concept here," said Huang, a singer and music producer. "We hope the audience will feel Taiwan's love and vitality."
Meanwhile some of the dance and other music performances at the closing ceremony will feature Italian culture, as Naples is the host city of the next Summer Universiade in 2019, the organizers said.
The 2017 closing ceremony, to be held under the theme "Taipei Loves You," will also pay tribute to all the athletes from the 141 participating countries, through song and visual effects, said Michael Tu, head of the organizing team for the closing ceremony.
He said singers LaLa Hsu, Samingad Blubluone and Jia Jia and punk-rock band Fire EX are among the performers scheduled to appear at the closing ceremony.
The band's performance will feature a prop in the shape of a large ship and 100 seabirds, creative director Akibo Lee said but he did not disclose any further details.
One of the performances at the closing ceremony will be a dance by solar-powered robots to highlight Taiwan's focus on clean energy, the organizers said.
The ceremony will end with a grand fireworks display that is expected to last 80 seconds, they said.
