The rock-off, a free event sponsored by the Taipei County government, is expected to draw a crowd exceeding 350,000 this year, a staggering increase from the 8,000 tallied at the first festival in 2000, reported the China Times.

The three-day event kicks off at the coast this Friday with a highly anticipated pre-show competition featuring local and foreign flavors including Lucky Pie, The Tube, and PunkHoo. Saturday’s repertoire, themed “International Rock,” will include the Frisco-based indie band Xiu Xiu, Taiwan’s A-di-a, and Hong Kong’s Paul Wong, the guitar virtuoso of popular group “Beyond.”

Also scheduled on Saturday is the international Live Earth benefit, a musical shout-out for climate control that will draw an estimated 2 billion people across 7 continents. Performances by headliners such as Madonna, Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, and Duran Duran will be broadcast live on widescreen at Gungliao.

The festival will conclude Sunday with a showcase of Asian artists. Appearing will be McHotdog of “I Love Tai-mei” fame, Cui Jian, popularly dubbed the Father of Rock & Roll in China, and Tanya Chua, the first Singaporean to win a prize at the Asian Song Festival.

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