The 49th Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2021
Ticket Bookings and Online Registrations start Tuesday 2 February 2021
Changes of Programme Schedule

(Hong Kong, 29 January 2021)

The 49th Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) will run from 27 February to 26 March 2021. Ticket bookings and online registrations will commence at 10:00am on Tuesday 2 February 2021. For in-venue performances, patrons can book their tickets via URBTIX^* (www.urbtix.hk | 2111 5999); for online performances and PLUS events^#, registrations can be made on the HKAF website at www.hk.artsfestival.org.

^{*Counter booking date of the performance of Hong Kong Sinfonietta and PLUS film screening will be announced later.
# Tickets for PLUS film screenings in cinemas will be available at respective cinemas.}

Changes of Programme Schedule

In view of the uncertainty of venue availability due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HKAF announces changes to in-venue programmes as follows:

Programme	Original dates of performances	Venue	Changes and new arrangement
The Plague (Cantonese Version)	26 Feb–3 Mar	HK Arts Centre	Changed to online viewing. Details of rescheduling to be announced.
HKJC Contemporary Dance Series 10th Anniversary Dance On and Off	26–28 Feb	HK Cultural Centre	Changed to online viewing. Details of rescheduling to be announced.
Festival Opening: Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Music About China	27–Feb	HK Cultural Centre	Changed to free live broadcast at 8:00pm on 27 Feb Online registration from 2 Feb
A New Adventures Production Matthew Bourne’s Ballet film: The Red Shoes	27–28 Feb	HK Cultural Centre	Changed to free online viewing during 27-30 Mar. Online registration from 2 Feb.
HKJC Contemporary Dance Series 10th Anniversary Put Out the Flame / Hermetic Diode	4–6 Mar	HK Cultural Centre	Changed to online viewing. Details of rescheduling to be announced.
Jockey Club Local Creative Talents Series Journey to the West Rewind / Women Like Us	5–7 Mar	HK City Hall	Changed to online viewing. Details of rescheduling to be announced.
Niu Niu Plays Chopin with Romer String Quartet	5–Mar	HK City Hall	Cancelled
Niu Niu Plays the Virtuosic Romantics	6–Mar	HK City Hall	Cancelled
The Chop - Pathetic Fallacy	10–13 Mar	Tai Kwun	Changed to online viewing. Details of rescheduling to be announced.
HKJC Contemporary Dance Series 10th Anniversary Elephant in the Room / Dirty	11–13 Mar	HK Cultural Centre	Changed to online viewing. Details of rescheduling to be announced.

Please visit the HKAF website for updates and developments regarding the 49th HKAF. Details of changes to the above programmes will be reflected on our website from 2 February.

Highlights of the upcoming Festival

• Audiences will be treated to an unforgettable Janáček experience through digital presentation by the National Theatre Brno, including operas Jenůfa and The Cunning Little Vixen, song cycle The Diary of One Who Disappeared, and three concerts delivered by Jan Bartoš, the Arnold Schoenberg Choir and the Pavel Haas Quartet

• Award-winning and signature pieces by acclaimed choreographer Matthew Bourne, including The Red Shoes, Swan Lake, Cinderella and Romeo & Juliet

• The tenth anniversary of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series, celebrating the achievements of the past decade in a series of provocative new works, revamped audience favourites, and thoughtfully curated commemorative media

• An extraordinary immersive and interactive live online production by world-renowned illusionist Scott Silven, The Journey, a HKAF co-commissioned programme

• A chilling adaptation of Albert Camus’s The Plague, the existentialist literary classic which has an eerie resonance with the current global crisis, will be in the format of an online performance in English, directed by the Beijing avant-garde theatre-maker Wang Chong and performed by six actors in six continents

More Than Great Performances

In this exceptional year, PLUS continues to bring audiences’ experiences beyond the stage to “More than Great Performances”. Highlights of 2021 include: Into the Czech Lands, a series of Czech music and an exhibition exploring the historical environment that produced the music of Dvořák, Janáček, Smetana and Martinů; documentary short Telling Images of Xiqu on Porcelain; special events in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series; and a series of PLUS films that trace the early development and career milestones of celebrated violinist Hilary Hahn, and dance-makers: Jiří Kylián and Sergei Polunin.

In addition to the above events, there are behind-the-scenes videos, artist dialogues, pre- and post-performance talks, to enhance engagement between artists and audiences.

ABOUT THE HONG KONG ARTS FESTIVAL

Launched in 1973, the Hong Kong Arts Festival is a major international arts festival committed to enriching the cultural life of the city. In February and March every year, the Festival presents leading local and international artists from all genres of the performing arts, giving equal importance to great traditions and contemporary creations. The Festival also commissions and produces work in theatre, music, chamber opera and contemporary dance by Hong Kong’s own creative talents and emerging artists, many of which have had successful subsequent runs in Hong Kong and overseas. Every year the Festival also presents over 250 “PLUS” and educational activities that offer diverse arts experiences to the community as well as tertiary, secondary and primary school students. In addition, through the “No Limits” project co-presented with The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the Festival strives to create an inclusive space for people with different abilities to share the joy of the arts together.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

For further enquiries, please contact Ms Katy Cheng, Marketing Director, at katy.cheng@hkaf.org, or:

Mr Dennis Chan (Opera and Music programmes) at dennis.chan@hkaf.org
Ms Alexia Chow (Theatre and Dance programmes) at alexia.chow@hkaf.org