The festival, first held last year, was organised by the city government’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department to “promote fine Chinese culture and enhance the public’s national identity and cultural confidence”.
This second edition, which ended in September, featured over 290 performances and activities by artists from across the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and with total attendances reaching 960,000. The four-month celebration showcased everything from Peking opera enhanced with digital technology to contemporary dance interpretations of classical poetry.
“During last year’s inaugural edition, we saw that visitors, particularly the younger generation, sought deeper engagement with cultural experiences,” Veron Lam, chief manager of the department’s Cultural Presentations Section, said. “Therefore, the second edition has enhanced elements such as workshops, demonstrations and community outreach, transforming participants from mere spectators into active contributors to cultural heritage.
“This shift from ‘observing’ to ‘experiencing’ meets the new expectations of contemporary audiences for cultural events on a deeper level.”
Embracing traditions through innovation
Beyond hands-on programmes, the festival’s main stage productions showed how classical arts can thrive through creative reinterpretation.
The festival’s emphasis on innovation was evident from the opening programme, Dongpo: Life in Poems, which used modern dances to reimagine the life and poetry of Su Dongpo, a Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) literary giant.
The performance by the prestigious China Oriental Performing Arts Group blended Su’s work with various Chinese art forms including martial arts, traditional and contemporary music, calligraphy and landscape painting.
“This approach made abstract poetic imagery tangible,” Lam said. “Together with powerful visual projections, the performance vividly conveyed Su Dongpo’s sentiments, humanity and patriotism through a contemporary lens and an international perspective.
“It perfectly embodies the principle of the festival, upholding traditions while embracing innovation.”
Another highlight, Cession for Consolidation of the Song Regime by the China National Peking Opera Company showed how classical arts can stay relevant – and even thrive – through modern interpretation.
