The Hong Kong Arts Festival is a charitable, non-profit organisation. It is a major international arts festival as well as the premier arts event in Hong Kong. Featuring overseas and local artists of renown in an eclectic array of music, theatre, dance, popular entertainment, film and exhibition programmes, the Festival offers a four-to-five-week-long cultural feast annually from February to March.
The Festival's Mission
Our mission is to present an annual international festival of the highest standard for the enrichment of cultural life in Hong Kong. The Festival also serves as a catalyst to arouse wider public interest in the arts and to encourage artistic dialogue and cultural exchange.
How did the Festival get started?
In 1972, a group of individuals decided that Hong Kong, as a fast-growing, vibrant metropolis, should have an arts festival. Together, they formed the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society Limited, a non-profit-making institution, which launched the first Hong Kong Arts Festival in 1973. Over the years, the Festival has grown to become the most significant event in the local arts calendar, both in terms of the number and stature of artists invited to perform and in the richness and diversity of programmes offered.
Programmes of the past Festivals
Where does the money come from?
The Festival receives grants from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Added to these generous grants is support from scores of companies, institutions and individuals, while ticket sales is also a significant source of income.
What makes the Festival so unique?
This is an international arts festival in which the best of Asian and local talents are showcased alongside top artists from elsewhere around the world. The Festival provides a broad spectrum of programmes, ranging from classical fare to other innovative and stimulating art forms. Indeed, the organisers not only make every effort to engage world-famous artists to perform in the Festival, but also bring in accomplished artists who display their talent in less familiar media. Some of the eminent artists and groups who have taken part in the Festival include the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, James Galway, José Carreras, the Mark Morris Dance Group, Moscow Art Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, the People's Art Theatre of Beijing, Yo-Yo Ma, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Philip Glass, Bobby McFerrin, Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Stuttgart Ballet, Tan Dun, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theatre and the Bolshoi Theatre.
Today's Vision, Tomorrow's Foundation
The Young Friends Scheme (YFS) of the Hong Kong Arts Festival is an integrated arts education and audience development programme designed to enhance the appreciation of the performing arts among young people. Created in 1992, with the support of the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund, it has proved to be very popular and highly successful.
The YFS offers members attendance at two Festival performances or rehearsals and organizes various workshops, talks and backstage tours in order to enhance their appreciation of the performing arts. In 2009, the YFS successfully generated audiences totalling 32,051 persons. Out of these audience numbers a total of 6,205 students came from 146 secondary schools, and 38 tertiary institutions joined as members of the YFS.
Over the past 17 years, it has created, from the Festival's and sponsor's resources, a series of effective arts education programmes, reaching out to 555,644 students, of which 91,024 became YFS members.
Festival Friends
In addition, those who frequent our events become our Festival Friends. Besides receiving newsletters with up-to-date information about our exciting programmes, Festival Friends enjoy such privileges as priority booking for upcoming performances and discounts at certain art and record shops.
Festival Plus
Another outreach project launched in recent years is Festival Plus, which offers a variety of activities, such as talks, masterclasses, workshops, meet-the-artist sessions, arts exchange programmes, exhibitions and other events. Please click here for details.
List of Committee Members
| Patron | The Chief Executive, The Honourable Donald Tsang Yam-kuen |
| Honorary Life President | Sir Run Run Shaw, CBE |
| Executive Committee | The Hon Charles YK Lee, GBM GBS JP (Chairman) |
| The Hon Rafael S Y Hui, GBM GBS JP (Vice Chairman) | |
| Mr Billy Li (Honorary Treasurer) | |
| The Hon Ronald Arculli, GBS JP | |
| Prof David Gwilt, MBE | |
| Mr Daniel Ng | |
| Mr Victor Cha | |
| Mr Iain Bruce | |
| Ms Nikki Ng | |
| The Hon Mr Justice Ribeiro | |
| Mr James Riley | |
| Ms Gilly Wong | |
| Mr Joseph Yam, GBM JP |
List of Staff
| Executive Director | Tisa Ho |
| Programme | |
| Programme Director | Grace Lang |
| Programme Managers | So Kwok-wan |
| Linda Yip | |
| Programme Coordinators | Michelle Tong |
| Ian Leung* | |
| Logistics Manager | Elvis King* |
| Production Managers | Liu Cheuk-leung* |
| Roy Leung* | |
| Programme Officer | Leung Wai-ting |
| Outreach Coordinator | Jess Lam* |
| Outreach Officer | Shirley So* |
| Editor | Daisy Chu* |
| English Editor Assistant Editor |
Harold Yeo* Juliet Tai* |
| International Programme Consultant | Joseph Seelig |
| Marketing | |
| Marketing Director | Katy Cheng |
| Marketing Manager | Alexia Chow |
| Assistant Marketing Managers | Michelle Yeung |
| Gigi Chang* | |
| Ruskin Leung Eppie Leung* |
|
| Ticketing Officer | Catherine Kwan* |
| Marketing Assistant Customer Service Officers |
Zia Fan* Eing Chan* Stephanie Cheng* Tiffin In* Kristin Xiao* |
| Development |
|
| Development Director | Antony Chan |
| Assistant Development Managers | Alex So |
| Eunice Chan* | |
| Accounts | |
| Accountant | Alison Li |
| Accounts Clerk | Bonia Wong |
| Administration | |
| Executive Secretary | Carmen Chu |
| Receptionist/Junior Secretary | Virginia Li |
| Office Assistants | Tony Cheng, Lam Chi-wai* |
| *Contract staff |
Contact Us
Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals
The AAPAF stands for the Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals and is comprised of most of the leading Arts Festivals in the region. The Association is chaired by the Singapore Arts Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Shanghai Arts Festival are the vice-chairs. The organisation is dedicated to creating and sharing best practices, touring possibilities and joint promotions. In addition, AAPAF works towards creating new performing arts work from the region, which can be shared by more than one Festival. It is hoped that the plans and activities of the Association will be of benefit to audiences and artists across the region.
