Taipei, July 6 (CNA) The annual Yilan International Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival will open Saturday with a new water slide, performances by local and foreign groups and a special anime exhibition from Japan, the Yilan County government said Thursday.

The festival, in its 17th year, will introduce several new water attractions this year, including a 10-meter-high water slide -- the highest to be set up by the festival, said the local government, the organizers of the event.

Canoeing will also be introduced for the first time at the festival to be held at Dongshan River Park under this year's theme of "Fun Fun Summer," organizers added.

An exhibition on "Mobile Suit Gundam," the classic Japanese anime about robots that started as a television series in 1979, is another great new attraction at the festival, the county government said.

Besides giant robot models, visitors to the exhibition can watch a 3-D film featuring the characters and enjoy a display showing classic war scenes and how anime and the models have developed over the years, as well as participate in interactive games.

In addition, 23 groups from 20 different countries, including Israel, Kenya and Venezuela, will give various performances and hold workshops during the festival, organizers said.

People skilled in arts and crafts have been invited to teach visitors how to make instruments, such as ocarinas and ones made of bamboo, the local government added.

The festival will run through Aug. 19.

(By Worthy Shen and I-Ling Chen)
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