The 2025 World Masters Games, co-hosted by Taipei City and New Taipei City, will officially open tomorrow, May 17, with a grand ceremony at the Taipei Dome. To celebrate, New Taipei City has invited seven diplomatic allies, including the Republic of the Marshall Islands, as well as over 100 dignitaries to witness this international sporting event. Among the visiting delegations, Shiranuka Town in Hokkaido, Japan, and Steinburg District in Germany will attend with delegations of 41 and 25 members, respectively. The head of the Canadian delegation, a former Olympian, will also reunite with Canadian athletes on the badminton court during the Games.
 
The New Taipei City Government Secretariat is hosting 17 visiting delegations from seven countries, namely the Marshall Islands, Germany, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, comprising a total of 106 distinguished guests from 16 cities and one international organization. Notably, Mayor Takao Tanano of Shiranuka Town, a sister city of New Taipei’s Wulai District, is leading the largest delegation of 40 members. The Shiranuka delegation will also present their signature horse dance on May 18 at Banqiao Station and on May 19 at the Wulai Atayal Museum, offering audiences a vibrant showcase of their local cultural heritage.
 
Several veteran athletes are among the dignitaries. Alexa Loo, the Acting Mayor of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, is a former Olympic snowboarder who represented Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Naoki Inoue, a member of the Taiwan-Japan Parliamentary Friendship Association  and Wakayama city councilor, was the hammer throw champion at the 2012 Asia Masters Athletics Championships (AMAC). He has registered to compete in multiple events at the World Masters Games, including the hammer throw, shot put, discus throw, javelin throw, and half marathon. Mike Coffman, the mayor of Aurora, Colorado’s third-largest city, is also among the dignitaries. Coffman is a veteran politician who has previously served as a state representative, state senator, and Colorado secretary of state.
 

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman (second from right) poses with the Aurora flag in the main hall of the New Taipei City Hall.

To welcome the visitors, the Secretariat has specially displayed the city flags or emblems of each visiting delegation in the City Hall lobby, highlighting the city’s commitment to city diplomacy. On the day of the opening ceremony, the Secretariat, in collaboration with the New Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Banqiao District Office, has organized two cultural tours to Yingge and Ruifang Jiufen, inviting guests to explore the cultural richness of New Taipei. The Yingge tour includes visits to the Yingge Ceramics Museum, the historic Yingge Old Street, and the newly opened New Taipei City Art Museum, along with a hands-on mosaic art workshop, offering guests a memorable cultural experience.