Kids event to take over Presidential Office, Ketagalan Boulevard

Taipei, Aug. 28 (CNA) A children's event featuring climate education, sports, films and cultural activities will be held at the Presidential Office Building and on Ketagalan Boulevard on Sept. 19, with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) set to hear children's views on climate change.

Organizers announced the 2026 Kids Big Fun event at a press conference Friday, saying it will feature five activities inside the Presidential Office Building and five themed zones on Ketagalan Boulevard.

Activities inside the Presidential Office will include a children's climate summit, a reading event and a disaster preparedness experience, as well as film screenings and an electronic music party in the building's auditorium.

The outdoor zones will focus on environmental sustainability, children's traffic safety and sports, and will also include a Hakka culture market and a mobile photography studio.

Visitors will be able to take part in activities including basketball and boxing, with some designed to be accessible to children, families and people with disabilities, organizers said.

Most activities will be free and open to the public, although advance registration through the event's official website is required for limited-capacity activities, including tours of the Presidential Office Building and film screenings.

Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming (彭啓明), who attended Friday's press conference, said Lai will attend the event and take part in the children's climate summit.

Peng said Taiwan's National Climate Change Countermeasures Committee is currently made up of adults, but children who are around 10 years old today will be about 30 in 2050.

Their expectations for the future are therefore important for adults to hear, he said.

Lai also appeared in a prerecorded video message promoting the event.

"With children having fun all the way from Ketagalan Boulevard and into the Presidential Office, I really look forward to listening to what children have to say about the climate and the future," Lai said.

"You can tell the adults how you envision the future," he added.

The Sept. 19 event is being co-organized by several nonprofit groups, including the Fubon Cultural and Educational Foundation and the Mom Loves Taiwan Association.

Fubon Cultural and Educational Foundation board director Irene Chen (陳藹玲) said adults should learn to listen to children's views and give them opportunities to take part in decisions affecting their lives.

Allowing children to engage with issues that may initially seem small or mundane can help them gradually shape the future they want, Chen said.