The 47th Hong Kong Arts Festival opens today Featuring over 1,700 artists in 166 performances with 80% tickets already sold

(Hong Kong, 21 February 2019) The 47th Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) officially opens today (21 February) with Marin Alsop conducting the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. The opening ceremony of the 47th HKAF will be held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and officiated by The Honourable Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Chief Executive of the HKSAR; Mr Victor Cha, Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Festival; Mr Anthony Chow Wing-kin, Chairman of The Hong Kong Jockey Club; Mr Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for Home Affairs; Ms Michelle Li Mei-sheung, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services; and Ms Tisa Ho, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

During the Festival, over 1,700 acclaimed artists from around the world will stage 166 performances, including world premieres of 15 new works, 16 Asian premieres, and over 340 complementary outreach and education activities. As of today, 80% of all available tickets for 166 performances have been sold.

With the theme ‘At Every Stage’, the 47th HKAF presents artists at different stages of their careers: great masters as well as rising stars. The HKAF showcases different stages in the continued development of iconic repertoire and redefines the concept of the stage in offering different ways to experience performances, some mediated by technology. On a human level, the theme allows HKAF to investigate seminal stages in which lives are shaped: in the concept of home, in an extreme environment or in high stakes conditions. The ‘stage’ is both space and time, site and process.

In addition to great performances, the 47th HKAF presents more than 340 outreach events, including special events for Young Friends, educational activities with schools and community groups, and PLUS activities for the general public.

The budget of the 47th Festival is approximately HK$136 million. Secured government baseline funding for the 2019 Festival represents roughly 13% of the HKAF’s total income, with another nearly 6% specially provided by the Government as time-limited additional funding for five years. Around 28% of the Festival’s income is expected to come from the box office, and over 33% from sponsorship and donations from corporations, individuals, and charitable foundations. It is anticipated that the remaining 20% will come from other revenues, including the Government’s matching grant scheme, which matches income generated through private sector sponsorship and donations.

Tickets to HKAF performances can be purchased at URBTIX outlets (online booking: www.urbtix.hk or telephone booking: 2111 5999). Tickets to performances at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts are also available at HK Ticketing outlets (online booking: www.hkticketing.com or telephone booking: 31 288 288).

NOT TO BE MISSED

The 47th HKAF sees an expansion of performance venues beyond the traditional stages to unexpected sites that allow new communities access to its programmes.

This year, HKAF produces a two-weekend dance extravaganza, HKArtsFestival@TaiKwun, with inventive and intimate site-specific performances, urban dance battles, community and contemporary dance, workshops and screenings. Admission is free for all. From 2 to10 March, dance enters the community space to show the true meaning of ‘At Every Stage’!

In addition to performances and events in the 47th HKAF, 2019 also sees the first edition of No Limits, co-presented by the Hong Kong Arts Festival and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to promote inclusiveness through the arts. Comprising a series of seven dance, theatre, music and other arts programmes by local and international artists of different abilities, as well as the Jockey Club No Limits Education and Community Programme, No Limits will run from 15 to 31 March 2019. For more information please visit the No Limits website at www.nolimits.hk.

ABOUT THE HONG KONG ARTS FESTIVAL (HKAF)

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 in all genres of the performing arts, placing equal importance on 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. The Festival also presents over 300 “PLUS” and educational activities that offer diverse arts experiences to the community as well as tertiary, secondary and primary school students.

For more information about the 2019 HKAF, please visit: www.hk.artsfestival.org.

PLUS PROGRAMMES AND YOUNG FRIENDS

HKAF presents over 340 outreach and educational events in “PLUS” Programmes and as part of the Young Friends, offering diverse arts experiences to the community as well as tertiary, secondary and primary school students. The Young Friends continues to provide a platform for young people in Hong Kong to be involved in the performing arts, with an accumulated membership of nearly 160,000, reaching over 750,000 students as of 2018 since its establishment.

For more information about “PLUS” programmes, please visit: www.hk.artsfestivalplus.org.

Media Enquiries

For further enquiries, please contact Ms Katy Cheng, Marketing Director, at (852) 2824 3555 or: Alexia Chow (Chinese Opera, Theatre and Dance) Tel: (852) 2828 4933 Email: alexia.chow@hkaf.org
Louis Cheung (Opera and Classical Music) Tel: (852) 2828 4931 Email: louis.cheung@hkaf.org
Michelle Yeung (Dance) Tel: (852) 2828 4934 Email: michelle.yeung@hkaf.org