As the rain grew stronger on Saturday morning, an enthusiastic crowd waving American and Taiwanese flags shuffled under the protection of Boston City Hall. Five young people took the stage and began “the event of beating on drums,” as Master of Ceremonies Alven Lam announced them. Younger girls then joined on stage in grasshopper and chicken ballet costumes, performing a lyrical dance-along to traditional Taiwanese music playing loudly in the background. Other dancers wearing bright headdresses and fluttering, elaborate pink fans added to the music with bells tied to their ankles and wrists. The performance ended with a rooster call and the audience erupted in an approving applause.

It was the annual Double Ten Celebration, orchestrated by Tai Pei, the Economic and Cultural Office in Boston, and despite the weather, a group of proud and spirited people gathered to express their culture and share their history.

Frank Wang, a spokesman for the event, said the celebration was a chance for the Chinese and Taiwanese communities to come together to remember the founding day of Taiwan on Oct. 10, 1911. In 1949, communists led by Mao Zedong forced the Republic of China off the Asian mainland into Taiwan.

“Every year around this day, we come to City Hall to raise the U.S. national flag and the Republic of China national flag,” Wang said.

Wang emphasized the importance of the flag-raising, saying it was a way to celebrate the two communities’ pursuit of democracy and freedom. There were many performances with dragon dancing and singing.

Members of the Chinese Folk Art Workshop Stephanie Yin, 15, of Lexington, and Vicki Chang, 15, of Hanover, played the drums and said they were very excited to celebrate their tradition.

“It is the day of independence from China. It is like Taiwan’s independence day,” Yin said.

This same pride resonated throughout the crowd, a pride in the relationship of the two interconnected cultures in Boston.

Six teenage boys, also a part of the Chinese Folk Art Workshop, then took the stage and performed Chinese yo-yo along to the beat of strong drums. The crowd seemed awed by their ability, igniting into a burst of cheers. In another event, red, white and yellow dragons supported by two boys from the Martial Arts Academy emerged onto the stage.

People handed out flags to attendees, and members of the ROC Veteran Association of Boston held their banner at the edge of the stage. A member of the crowd, David Jeng, 24, who attended school in Boston, described Double Ten Day as marking the “beginning of the Chinese Revolution, when Sun Yat Sun was overthrown in 1911.”

Jeng said he has attended this annual celebration for the past few years. The Boston Yuan Chi Dance Group performed a slow, symbolic dance related to the elements and nature. Song sheets were passed out, and in a triumphant ending to the day’s cultural celebrations, the crowd sang the national anthem. People of all ages and even those of different races, sang and waved their flags. Dragons, dancers and drummers filled the stage, and the song ended with a loud, “Happy Birthday Republic of China Taiwan.”