Chinese Culture Festival 2024

EVENT DESCRIPTION

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will organise the inaugural Chinese Culture Festival (CCF) from June to September. Through different performing arts programmes in various forms and related extension activities, the festival allows members of the public and visitors to experience the broad and profound Chinese culture with a view to promoting Chinese culture and patriotic education as well as enhancing national identity among the people of Hong Kong, making contributions to the steadfast and successful implementation of “one country, two systems”.

There is an array of programmes in the first CCF including programmes of the Chinese Opera Festival (COF), exemplary local arts projects recognised by the China National Arts Fund, performing arts programmes from arts and cultural organisations, film screenings, exhibitions and talks. To provide opportunities for students to appreciate and understand the essence of Chinese culture in a holistic manner, the CCF will specially introduce the “Chinese Culture for All: A Special Performance Series” and school tours to open new arenas for students to experience Chinese culture.

The opening programme of the CCF is the Dance Drama: “Five Stars Rising in the East” performed by the Beijing Dance Drama and Opera. The concept of the dance drama was inspired by a piece of Han dynasty brocade armguard unearthed from the ancient Niya cultural relics site in Hotan Prefecture of the ancient Silk Roads in Xinjiang. The woven pattern of this magnificent artefact, designated as a National Class One Cultural Relic, reveals characters that translate as “five stars rising in the East are auspicious signs for the Central Plain”. Through spectacular dance movements, music, costumes and stage design, the production reshapes the aesthetics of the Han dynasty and the local customs of the Western Regions, allowing the profound Chinese cultural heritage carried by the precious cultural relic to be showcased onstage. It also demonstrates the spirit of unity and coexistence of the Chinese nation enduring for thousands of years.

The LCSD’s signature project, the COF, has now become a core part of the CCF from this year. It will present eight quality programmes packed with both civil and martial scenes,

covering Cantonese opera, North Road Bangzi opera, Chiuchow opera, Liuzi opera, Yue opera, Kunqu opera, Wu opera and Peking opera. The COF allows outstanding troupes and winners of the China Theatre Plum Blossom Award from all over the country to gather in Hong Kong to showcase the unique charm of Chinese opera. The first programme of the COF, “Cyrano de Bergerac” – A Cantonese Opera Interpretation, is an adaptation of a French classic piece of the same title, demonstrating the eclecticism of the Cantonese opera, most notably in the hybrid mix of East and West. Furthermore, the Academy of Xinzhou Studies, the Guangdong Chiu Chow Opera Theatre Number One Troupe and Hong Kong’s Sun Hon Kwong Chiu Chow Opera Troupe, the Centre for the Safeguarding of Liuzi Opera of Shandong, the Fujian Fanghua Yue Opera Troupe, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre and the Zhejiang Wu Opera Research Centre will also bring their best talent to perform their classic plays and excerpts, exemplifying the Chinese opera cultural soft power of the nation. The COF will also present a number of free programmes like meet-the-artists sessions, masterclasses and talks, enabling drama lovers to learn more about the soul of Chinese culture.