The 54th Hong Kong Arts Festival concluded today

About 1,200 outstanding international and local artists

staged more than 190 performances of nearly 50 programmes

90%* of available tickets were sold

(Hong Kong, 27 March 2026)

The 54th Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) celebrated its official Festival Finale today (27 March) with the performance Dance Theatre—Dream in The Peony Pavilion, directed and choreographed by renowned Chinese artists Li Xing and Huang Jiayuan. The Guest of Honour, Mr Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Chief Secretary for Administration of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, was joined at the Finale Toasting Ceremony by Professor Lo Kingman, Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society; Miss Rosanna Law, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism; Dr Liu Yagan, Chairman & Executive Director of ICBC (Asia); Ms Winnie Yip, Head of Charities (Culture & Sports Cluster, Community Engagement) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club; Ms Manda Chan, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services; and Ms Flora Yu, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. The Festival Finale performance was exclusively sponsored by ICBC (Asia).

[Photos of the closing ceremony can be downloaded here]

The five-week Festival presented about 1,200 acclaimed international and local artists in more than 190 performances of almost 50 programmes, including six new works/world premieres, six Asia premieres and five co-productions. The Festival presented programmes across a wide range of genres#, including Western opera, traditional Chinese opera, classical music, jazz, world music, ballet, contemporary dance, arts tech programmes, theatre in Cantonese, Putonghua and foreign languages, and immersive theatre. Excluding two local umbrella programmes, 90%* of total tickets available for this year’s Festival were sold.

In addition to the main Festival programmes, the HKAF also offered a diverse range of more than 300 Festival PLUS, education and outreach events in performance venues and community locations. The Festival PLUS activities included exhibitions, masterclasses, workshops, backstage tours, artist talks, film screenings and guided cultural tours, enhancing the Festival experience for audience members. In terms of arts education, the HKAF provided students with a diverse arts experience through its Young Friends Scheme, school tour showcases, in-school workshops, Hong Kong Jockey Club Student Matinee programmes, school-based projects as well as arts appreciation performances and workshops targeted at young students.

The Festival is estimated to have reached about 300,000 people from Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and overseas through its diverse range of performances and events this year.

The HKAF sincerely thanks the Hong Kong SAR Government via the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, commercial sector sponsors, other charitable foundations, Patron’s Club members, individual and institutional donors, in-kind and other supporters, as well as the Hong Kong Arts Festival Foundation patrons for their contributions. The Festival also sends its appreciation to about 1,200 exceptional international and local artists who took part in the Festival, as well as audience members and event participants for their support.

The remaining programmes of the 54th Hong Kong Arts Festival will be staged in the three days after the Festival Finale. These include: Ontroerend Goed—Handle with Care, Dance Theatre—Dream in The Peony Pavilion, Yunchan Lim with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Minsoo Sohn with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, three performances of the World Music Weekend and the Yunchan Lim Piano Recital.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The 54th HKAF is most grateful to its many sponsors, the main ones being: The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, ICBC (Asia), China Resources (Holdings) Co., Ltd., Primasia Foundation Limited, Queen’s Museum, Shun Hing Group, Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund, ROLEX, DANCE RELECTIONS BY VAN CLEEF & ARPELS, The D. H. Chen Foundation, and Culture Ireland; Official Airline Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, Official Outdoor Media Partner POADmedia Limited, Official Premium Car Partner Dah Chong Hong (Motor Leasing) Limited, Official Video Technology Partner Blackfoot Holdings Limited and Major Hotel Partner Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.

*The number of tickets sold excludes two local umbrella programmes: Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra—Music About China and City Contemporary Dance Company—Interstices.

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ABOUT THE HONG KONG ARTS FESTIVAL

Launched in 1973, the Hong Kong Arts Festival is a premier arts event in the region and a major international arts festival. In February and March every year, the Festival presents leading local and international artists. The programmes cover all genres of the performing arts, including Western opera, Chinese traditional opera, classical and contemporary music, jazz and world music, ballet, contemporary dance, theatre works in Cantonese, Putonghua, English and other foreign languages, arts tech productions, as well as a variety of multi-media works, placing equal importance on great traditions and contemporary creations. The Festival also supports local artists by commissioning and producing work in theatre, music, chamber opera and contemporary dance by Hong Kong’s own creative talents and emerging artists, many of which have subsequently had successful runs in Hong Kong and overseas. Every year, the Festival also presents a range of “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 artists and audiences of different abilities to share the joy of the arts together.

For more information about the Hong Kong Arts Festival, please visit www.hk.artsfestival.org.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

For further enquiries, please contact:

• Ms Katy Cheng (Marketing Director): (852) 2828 4930 / katy.cheng@hkaf.org

• Ms Vicki Cheng (Marketing Manager): (852) 2828 4933 / vicki.cheng@hkaf.org

• Ms Stephanie Cheung (Marketing Manager): (852) 2828 4938 / stephanie.cheung@hkaf.org

Officiating Guests at the Finale Toasting Ceremony of the 54th Hong Kong Arts Festival on 27 March included: (from left to right) Ms Manda Chan Wing-man, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services; Dr Liu Yagan, Chairman & Executive Director of ICBC (Asia), sponsor of the finale performance of the 54th Hong Kong Arts Festival; Prof Kingman Lo, Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society; Mr Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Chief Secretary for Administration of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Miss Rosanna Law,  Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism; Ms Winnie Yip, Head of Charities (Culture & Sports Cluster, Community Engagement) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club; and Ms Flora Yu, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Mr Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Chief Secretary for Administration of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, gives a speech at the Finale Toasting Ceremony

PROGRAMMES OF THE 54TH HONG KONG ARTS FESTIVAL IN 2026

Western opera and Chinese opera programmes included:

• National Theatre Brno—Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin

• 300 Years of Cantonese Opera: The Transition

• Fujian Province Liyuan Opera Inheritance Centre—Red Wedding Bed

Music programmes included:

• Organist Cameron Carpenter at the Movies: Sports Queen

• CR Holdings Proudly Sponsors the “Music Without Borders” Series: Cameron Carpenter, Chiyan Wong and the HK Phil

• Gulbenkian Choir

• Sir John Eliot Gardiner and The Constellation Choir & Orchestra

• CR Holdings Proudly Sponsors the “Music Without Borders” Series: Roberto Fonseca—La Gran Diversión

• Imani Winds—Soul’s Delight

• Bi-An: Yu Xiangjun Piano-Hypermedia Recital—Chinese Opera at the Keyboard

• Chiyan Wong and Friends—Reflections on a Sampan

• Mivos Quartet—Steve Reich: The String Quartets

• BACH—Trevor Pinnock, Emmanuel Pahud & Jonathan Manson

• A Gala Celebration of Czech Music

• National Theatre Brno—Dvořák’s Requiem

• Aristo Sham Piano Recital

• NOVUS Quartet

• Benjamin Bernheim in Concert

• Yunchan Lim with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

• Minsoo Sohn with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

• Yunchan Lim Piano Recital

• World Music Weekend

• Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra—Music About China

Dance programmes included:

• Ballet Nacional de España—La Bella Otero (Festival Opening—27 Feb)

• Ballet Nacional de España—Invocación

• Roberto Bolle—Caravaggio

• Rosas—Rosas danst Rosas

• Rosas—BREL by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker & Solal Mariotte

• City Contemporary Dance Company—INterstices

Dance theatre programmes included:

• Dance Theatre—Dream in The Peony Pavilion (Festival Finale—27 Mar)

• Antigone

Theatre programmes included:

• Sebastian Kaiser X HKAPA—The Drunkard

• MENG Theatre Studio—En attendant Godot (Waiting for Godot)

• Brecht’s First Play—Dead Centre and Beijing Repertory Theater

• The Empire of Light

• Volcano

• Ontroerend Goed—Handle with Care

Circus programmes included:

• FOCASA Circus—One to One Hundred: A Brave Journey

• The 7 Fingers—Duel Reality

Arts tech programme included:

• Jockey Club InnoArts Series: KAGAMI by Ryuichi Sakamoto & Tin Drum