Megaport Music Festival


The Megaport Music Festival has been held in Kaohsiung every year since 2006, with four exceptions.

History

The music festival, founded in 2006 by Taiwan Rock Alliance, was co-organized from 2010 to 2012 by The Wall, a live house owned by Freddy Lim and based in Taipei, with branches in Yilan and Kaohsiung. The festival was planned with fans of rock music located in southern Taiwan in mind and has traditionally taken place in March, aside from 2007, when it took place in October. Over time, Megaport grew in size and came to dominate the southern Taiwan music scene, no longer considered an "offshoot" of the older Formoz Festival.
The Megaport Music Festival was not held in 2014, due to a disputed takeover bid. The Wall's CEO bought out the other founders, one of whom was Freddy Lim, who claimed that the rights to the Formoz and Megaport Festivals had not changed hands. Lim managed to retain the rights to both music festivals, and both returned in 2015. The twelfth iteration of Megaport was cancelled in 2019, as the mayoral administration of Han Kuo-yu sought information on financing for the eleven previous festivals.
Megaport has featured many Taiwanese musicians, including Deserts Chang, Elephant Gym, 9m88, Fire EX., Enno Cheng, Huang Fei, 1976, and Sunset Rollercoaster as well as international groups, such as 65daysofstatic and Grizzly Bear.