The annual outdoor countdown concerts at the peninsula’s Praça do Lago Sai Van and at the area around the Taipa Houses will take place tonight, with performances starting at 10 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. respectively, and Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Deland Leong Wai Man said yesterday she expected a crowd of 10,000 at the Sai Van concert.
At the blessing held yesterday for a successful 2024 Macau Countdown Concert and the 2024 Taipa Countdown Show, the organisers, including the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) and the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), led a traditional worshipping ceremony in Praça do Lago Sai Van, with the attendance of the singers and bands that will be performing at tonight’s two gigs, including Hong Kong singer Maria Cordero (肥媽) as well as local singers Rico Long (龍世傑) and Vivian Chan (陳慧敏).
On the sidelines of yesterday’s ceremony, Leong said that the total budget for the two concerts amounted to 7.4 million patacas, of which the one held in Praça do Lago Sai Van accounted for the bulk, standing at 6.5 million patacas. The Taipa Countdown Show was budgeted at about 900,000 patacas.
The Macau Countdown Concert will start at 10 p.m. and lead to a countdown spectacle at 12:10 a.m. the following day, with Hong Kong singers George Lam (林子祥) and Sally Yeh (葉蒨文) as the grand finale performers, while the Taipa Countdown Show will start at 8:30 p.m. with cultural booths, set up by members of the local Indian, Indonesian, Myanmar, Philippine and Vietnamese communities, operating between 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
Leong reminded members of the public that vehicle traffic restrictions and road closures along Praça do Lago Sai Van will be in effect from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. the next day, while those along the area of the Taipa Houses will be in effect from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. the next day. She underlined: “We have been in close communication with the Public Security Police (PSP) and, as usual, traffic control measures will be in place and further crowd control will be carried out in the event of an overflow of people”.
Leong says she’s ‘satisfied’ with Saturday’s outdoor gig in Cotai
Meanwhile, Macau’s new outdoor performance venue in Cotai staged its inaugural concert on Saturday, with an attendance of nearly 11,000, in response to which Leong summed up the effectiveness of the concert’s security checks, venue support, transport capacity, staff training and the smoothness of the audience members exit from a gig with “satisfactory”.
She was quick to add that the bureau was currently reviewing and assessing the next stage of work in the light of the audience views collected, with a view to refining the relevant measures, including the commendations or shortcomings of the overall arrangement, the F&B zone and venue configuration, such as reminding the audience in advance to take precautionary measures in response to the weather conditions, and the possibility of increasing the number of food vendors.
Regarding the fact that the number of spectators was less than the estimated 13,000, Leong stressed that large-scale outdoor performance was a new venture for Macau, and “we all hoped that it would be held in safe conditions”. The ticket sales of Saturday’s concert were controlled at 13,000, according to Leong, who pointed out that the attendance rate of that night accounted for about 90 percent, which she described as “already okay”.
Leong reaffirmed that the outdoor performance venue was expected to operate on a trial basis for one year, but when asked about the arrangements for the next performance there, she said there were “no” new arrangements for the time being, adding that the bureau had already received about 10 proposals from event organisers in Asia, Europe and the US indicating that they would like to use the venue for their events, and that further arrangements would be made if they were suitable.
Deland Leong Wai Man prepares for a traditional worshipping ceremony in Praça do Lago Sai Van yesterday for a successful 2024 Macau Countdown Concert and 2024 Taipa Countdown Show. – Photo: Yuki Lei
