Taipei Events — late Aug & Sep 2026

The Bologna Illustrators Exhibition is at Huashan 1914 Creative Park, West 4 and West 5 halls, through 28 September 2026. Firenze Cultural Exchange has brought the Bologna Children's Book Fair selection to Taipei for a sixth year. 78 artists and 390 original works were chosen from 17,600 submissions by 3,520 illustrators in 81 countries. Four rooms in order: Gateway of Imagination, Poetry of Life, Visual Laboratory, Stories of the World. Hours 10:00 to 18:00 daily, last ticket 17:00. Door ticket NT$390. Concession NT$195 for ages 3 to 6 and visitors 65 and over. MRT Shandao Temple or Zhongxiao Xinsheng. Official pages: firenzecx.com/2026bologna and KKTIX.

Taipei Arts Festival, held since 1998, runs 4 September to 25 October 2026 from Taipei Performing Arts Center in Shilin, with additional city venues. It is the municipal platform for new work, visiting companies and cross-disciplinary collaboration — theatre, dance, music and art-education events rather than a single outdoor fair. TPAC (the spherical complex next to Jiantan MRT, Red line) is the main house. Buy show-by-show on the festival site and OPENTIX; some talks and outdoor commissions are free. September opening weeks are the practical window for visitors who will not stay through October. Combine an evening performance with a walk around the Shilin night market after the show, or ride one stop to Yuanshan for Expo Park.

The Taipei Jazz Festival marks its 20th year from 4 September to 11 October 2026, presented by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Taipei Music Center. Three strands: Feel Jazz Night Live — 19 indoor gigs in 12 Taipei jazz rooms; Absolute Jazz Party — 12 sets in five scenic and cultural spaces; and the Jazz Right main stage at Taipei Music Center, with 11 Taiwanese and international acts over three days. A jazz market is listed for 9–11 October, 16:00–21:00, in the Music Center outdoor performance space. The official calendar pins the festival at Taipei Music Center in Nangang, with the club strand using rooms across the city. Club nights are ticketed by venue; outdoor Jazz Right and park-style sets are often free or donation-based — confirm each listing on the festival Facebook and Instagram. Kunyang MRT for the Music Center; for club nights, book the room before you book dinner.

Taipei Fashion Week returns from 11 September to 4 October 2026 with the theme "Fashion is ____". Designer workshops and a pop-up of traditional Italian leather craft run along Xinyi Xiangti Avenue throughout the dates, alongside shopping-district store collaborations across the city. The crossover fashion show is on 3 October at Taipei Music Center Concert Hall. Six Taiwanese labels — Claudia Wang, PCES, JENN LEE, JUST IN XX, Story Wear and BOB Jian — present Spring/Summer 2027 collections, with emerging Italian brands joining through the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office. Workshops and the Xiangti pop-up are the public-facing core through September. Check travel.taipei for store-collaboration locations as they are announced.

Yongle Fabric Market in Dadaocheng marks 42 years with a two-day programme on 18–19 September 2026. An opening press conference and main event occupy Yongle Plaza, then activity moves onto the 2nd- and 3rd-floor fabric halls, with a fabric-themed exhibition and hands-on making in the third-floor Octagon Pavilion. Yongle is still the place to buy yardage, qipao cloth and notions in Taipei. The anniversary is a public market celebration, not a trade-only fair — visitors can watch demonstrations and join simple workshops. The English calendar title wrongly tags "Consumer Electronics"; the official copy is fabric. DiHua Street and the Dadaocheng wharf are next door. MRT Beimen or Daqiaotou, then a short walk. The halls can be warm in September; go in the morning.

Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) falls on Friday 25 September 2026, the 15th day of the 8th lunar month — a national public holiday in Taiwan. Personnel Administration (DGPA) lists a one-day holiday; with the weekend and Teachers' Day on Monday 28 September it becomes a four-day break (25–28 September). Taipei celebrates with mooncakes, pomelos, moon-gazing and the local custom of outdoor barbecue in parks, riverside sites and on rooftops. There is no single ticketed ceremony. Families gather at Da'an Forest Park, riverside barbecue zones, Dadaocheng Wharf, Songshan Cultural Park and Bihu Park. Sky-lantern releases are banned inside Taipei; use stationary lantern displays. The municipal Shopping District Carnival at Expo Park (26–28 September) is the official public market tied to the holiday weekend. Book riverside barbecue pits a week or two ahead. MRT is the practical way to Da'an and Yuanshan. Bakeries start limited mooncakes in August; Chia Te and other famous shops sell out of pre-orders.

Taipei's Shopping District Carnival occupies Taipei Expo Park from 26 to 28 September 2026, the Saturday–Monday of the Mid-Autumn / Teachers' Day long weekend. Specialty shops from shopping streets across the city set up markets, cultural performances and food stalls so visitors can sample district identities in one park, staged explicitly against a Mid-Autumn atmosphere. The venue is Expo Park in Zhongshan District (Yuanshan MRT). It is a free outdoor carnival, not a ticketed expo — useful if you are in town for the 25 September public holiday and want a public celebration rather than a private barbecue. Combine it with the Fine Arts Museum or a walk to the Lin An Tai homestead. Weekend crowds peak late afternoon; go earlier for stalls and stay for evening performances.

Taipei Travel dates the 22nd Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival to 9-11 October 2026 at the Yuanshan Expo Park corridor plaza. Organiser: Department of Economic Development, Taipei City Commercial Office. Theme: King of Taiwan, a nationwide cook-off with red-braised and clear-broth fresh food plus a frozen pack track. Economic Daily: 112 shops applied, 104 teams reached north/south prelims on 7 and 11 September. Gold prize pool NT$200,000. Entry is free. Bowls and packs are sold per stall. MRT Yuanshan, Red line.

Chill Out / 秋Out runs 10-11 October 2026 across Gongguan: Siyuan Street and Dingzhou Road, the Museum of Drinking Water, Gongguan Riverside Plaza and Guting Riverside Park, Zhongzheng. Taipei Travel lists the civic dates. Liberty Times, 12 September 2026, from Taipei Water Department: three free stages and two ticketed stages, about 50 acts including seven international names. Named ticketed sets include Chara (Japan, first Taiwan show in 25 years), Kan Sano, jazz trumpeter Takuya Kuroda, Hello Nico, YELLOW, That's My Shhh. Presale day ticket NT$1,980, two-day NT$2,980 via ibon. Single-act tickets from NT$999. New sunken circular plaza at Gongguan opens with the festival. MRT Gongguan.