Perhaps to some friends, Yiwan (宜灣) tribal village and even its traditional music and dance is not unfamiliar, but rarely do they know the origin of the tribal village’s name.
Yiwan (宜灣) tribal village — “Sa'aniwan” in Amis language — is one of the many Amis tribal villages located on the east coast; its original translated name is 沙如灣 (saruwan). Later, because the bay in front of the tribal village has quite a pleasant scenery, it was renamed as 宜灣 (which literally means Pleasant Bay). If you take the Taiwan Provincial Highway 11 (台11線), after approximately 10 minutes driving past Chenggong Town (成功鎮), you can see a sculpture by the roadside, in the shape of the sun and moon, this is where Yiwan (宜灣) is.
In this 2017 Amis Music Festival, we will also invite the Sa'aniwan (宜灣部落) local tribal peple and friends to join the festivities, presenting the most “beautiful (Amis style)” music festival to everyone!