媽祖是中國沿海各省居民主要的宗教信仰對象之一，隨著人口的遷徙和華僑的外移，自宋、元、明、清乃至今日，媽祖信仰不斷的傳播和擴展，已遍及海內外各地。台灣的媽祖信仰是在明清之際由大陸移民渡海來台時引進。四百多年前，先民們從大陸沿海移民台灣，為祈求航海平安、謀生順利，隨身帶著媽祖的香火，提供心靈上的慰藉。由於媽祖神力庇佑、靈驗無比，全台灣各地信眾紛紛建廟奉祀，媽祖信仰於是遍及台灣各個角落，成為台灣民間最大的宗教信仰。在台灣歷史的發展過程中，媽祖信仰也是構成台灣文化傳統的重要支柱。目前全台灣大大小小的媽祖宮廟合計超過二千座，幾乎每個鄉鎮都建有媽祖廟，而且全台灣的媽祖信徒多達一千四百萬人，占台灣人口總數的61％之多。台灣主要的媽祖宮廟都是各個地方的政經活動中心，地方士紳積極參與媽祖宮廟事務，將信眾捐獻結餘的香油錢回饋鄉里，從事社會公益慈善事業。信眾透過對媽祖的虔誠信仰，將媽祖慈悲為懷、救苦救難的無私無我精神發揚光大，也反映出信眾對鄉土的認同與關懷。近年來由於全台各地紛紛舉辦媽祖文化節，媽祖信仰在台灣的傳承再次受到高度的重視。例如，台中縣政府於1999年首創的「大甲媽祖文化節」在2003年擴大為「大甲媽祖國際觀光文化節」。2005年台北市政府開始舉辦「台北媽祖文化節」，而位於台灣南部的雲林縣也從2007年開始舉辦「北港媽祖文化節」。本研究個案「台北縣媽祖文化節」則是由台北縣政府在今年的4月11日首次舉辦。全台灣北、中、南各地都有縣市政府與深具代表性的媽祖宮廟共同舉辦媽祖文化節，以持續弘揚媽祖文化、傳承媽祖信仰。藉由深入探究2009台北縣媽祖文化節的主要內容與時代意義，本研究發現，就如同大甲媽祖所在的台中縣和北港媽祖所在的雲林縣一般，舉辦媽祖文化節的確有助於提升媽祖信仰在當地的重要性與普遍性。慶祝媽祖聖誕的相關活動不但凝聚當地媽祖信眾的團結，也促進媽祖信仰在當地的傳承。新穎和饒富創意的媽祖民俗慶典活動，讓更多年輕族群願意親身體驗，進一步了解台灣民間信仰的歷史與文化。

Matsu has been one of the major religious beliefs in Chinese coastal provinces. Due to population reallocation both inside and outside China, the belief of Matsu has been continuously spread out since Soong dynasty. The belief of Matsu in Taiwan was introduced by Chinese immigrants during the era of late Ming dynasty and early Ching dynasty. More than 400 years ago, those Chinese immigrants brought along Matsu statutes in order to pray for safe journey in the sea and good life in the new land. Because of Matsu's efficacious blessing, her believers all over Taiwan started to build Matsu temples consecutively. Therefore, the belief of Matsu has become the largest civil religion in Taiwan. In addition, the belief of Matsu has played one of the main roles in Taiwan's traditional culture. There are more than 2,000 Matsu temples all over Taiwan, and about at least one Matsu temple in each town of Taiwan. 61% of Taiwan's population believes in Matsu. Every Matsu temple is located at the center of politics and economics in different areas of Taiwan. Through the hard work of local elites, most donations to Matsu temples are usually transferred to engage in social charities, in order to reflect her temperament of benevolence and altruism. The passage of the belief of Matsu in Taiwan has been highly focused again, since many cities all over the country have held Matsu Cultural Festivals. For example, Taichung County is the first city in Taiwan to establish Da-Chia Matsu Cultural Festival in 1999, which was expanded as Da-Chia Matsu International Tourism Cultural Festival in 2003. Similarly, Taipei City started to organize Taipei Matsu Cultural Festival in 2005, as well as Yunlin County did in 2007. Taipei County Matsu Cultural Festival, the research focus of this paper, was first held on April 11, 2009. There are a lot of Matsu Cultural Festivals held by cities together with those representative Matsu temples in northern, central, and southern part of Taiwan, in order to promote Matsu Culture and pass Matsu belief. Through the exploration of the main content and modern value of 2009 Taipei County Matsu Cultural Festival, this paper found that holding Matsu Cultural Festival really helps promote both the significance and popularity of Matsu belief, just like Da-Chia Matsu in Taichung County and Pei-Kang Matsu in Yunlin County. The celebration events for Matsu's birthday not only strengthen the union of Matsu believers, but also encourage the local passage of Matsu belief. Those civil celebration events with creation and innovation in fact attract young people to participate to further understand the history and culture of Taiwan's civil belief.