Hong Kong Arts Festival
HKAF, launched in 1973, is a major international arts festival committed to enriching the cultural life of the city by presenting leading local and international artists in all genres of the performing arts as well as a diverse range of “PLUS” and educational events in February and March each year.
HKAF is a non-profit organisation. The total income target for FY2026/27 (including the 55th Hong Kong Arts Festival and 2027 “No Limits”) is approximately HK$160 million. Current Government annual baseline funding accounts for around 11% of the Festival's total income. Around 24% of the Festival’s income needs to come from the box office, and around 44% from sponsorship and donations made by corporations, individuals and charitable foundations. The remaining 21% is expected to come from other revenue sources including the Government’s matching grant scheme, which matches income generated through private sector sponsorship and donations.
Estimated Target Income for HKAF in FY2026/27: HK$160 million
HKAF has presented top international artists and ensembles across multiple genres, such as*:
- Western opera: Bayerische Staatsoper, Oper Leipzig, The Bolshoi Theatre, The Mariinsky Theatre, San Francisco Opera, Savonlinna Opera Festival
- Chinese opera: China National Peking Opera Company, Hebei Clapper Opera Troupe, Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, Shanghai Zhang Jun Kunqu Art Center, Suzhou Kunqu Opera Company of Jiangsu, Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe, Shanghai Yue Opera House
- Classical music: Cecilia Bartoli, Riccardo Chailly, Seong-Jin Cho, Gustavo Dudamel, Philip Glass, Bruce Liu, Yo-Yo Ma, Minsoo Sohn, Yunchan Lim, Aristo Sham, Denis Matsuev, Anna Netrebko, Gianandrea Noseda, Seiji Ozawa, Thomas Quasthoff, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Tan Dun, Muhai Tang, Christian Thielemann, Sir András Schiff, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Bamberg Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Thomanerchor Leipzig, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
- Jazz and world music: Bobby McFerrin, Youssou N'Dour, Esperanza Spalding, Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, Pink Martini, Roberto Foncesa
- Dance: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Sylvie Guillem, Akram Khan, Natalia Osipova, Roberto Bolle, American Ballet Theatre, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, The Hamburg Ballet – John Neumeier, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company
- Theatre: Peter Brook, Robert Lepage, Yukio Ninagawa, Robert Wilson, Berliner Ensemble, National Theatre of China, Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre of Great Britain
- Large-scale special events: World of WearableArt, Zingaro
- Outdoor events: Power Plant, Super Pool, Chorus
- Musicals: Yat-sen, I Am What I Am the Musical, Wuthering Heights
- Circus: Compagnia Finzi Pasca, Circa, FOCASA Circus, The 7 Fingers
- Arts-Tech: Hyperreality—An Installation Concert, No Reality now, VR Interactive Dance—Le Bal de Paris, KAGAMI by Ryuichi Sakamoto & Tin Drum
HKAF actively collaborates with Hong Kong’s own creative talent and showcases emerging local artists. Over the years, HKAF has commissioned and produced over 250 local productions across genres including Cantonese opera, theatre, chamber opera, music and contemporary dance, many with successful subsequent runs in Hong Kong and overseas.
HKAF frequently partners with renowned international artists and institutions to produce exceptional works, such as Der Fensterputzer (The Window Washer) co-produced with Goethe-Institut Hong Kong and Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch; Richard III and The Tempest produced by The Old Vic, BAM and Neal Street under “The Bridge Project” with HKAF as a co-commissioning institution; Green Snake co-commissioned with Shanghai International Arts Festival; Dream of the Red Chamber co-produced with San Francisco Opera; Laila, a co-produced with Finnish National Opera and Ballet, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , co-produced with The Central Academy of Drama, China and Compagnie Point Fixe.
HKAF invests heavily in arts education for young people. Over the past 34 years, our “Young Friends” scheme has reached around 853,300 local secondary and tertiary school students. A variety of arts education projects serving primary, secondary, and tertiary school students have been launched in recent years, featuring activities such as student showcases, pre-performance talks, open rehearsals, opportunities to attend Festival performances, as well as in-school workshops and lecture demonstrations led by international and local artists. Donations to the “Student Ticket Scheme” also make available approximately 10,000 half-price student tickets each year.
HKAF organises a diverse range of “Festival PLUS” activities in community locations each year to enhance engagement between artists and audiences. These include films, lecture demonstrations, masterclasses, workshops, symposia, backstage visits, exhibitions, meet-the-artist sessions, and guided cultural tours.
HKAF actively promotes inclusion via the arts to every corner of the community. The “No Limits” project, co-presented with The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, was launched in 2019. Through a series of performances and diverse arts experiences for students and the community, “No Limits” strives to create an inclusive space for people with different abilities to share the joy of the arts together.
To provide greater financial security and long-term sustainability for the Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival Foundation was officially launched in 2022. Donations to the Foundation will be used towards enabling the Festival to present in the future large-scale or special projects which its annual budget cannot cater for.
*Details of past HKAF programmes can be found here
To find out more about sponsorship opportunities and donation details for the Hong Kong Arts Festival, please contact the HKAF Development Department.
Email: dev@hkaf.org
Direct Lines: (852) 2828 4911/12
Website: www.hk.artsfestival.org/en/support-us