The 35th Macao Arts Festival (FAM) will be held between April 25 and May 31, with a special selection of performances from Japan and South Korea, alongside various Chinese performances to highlight Macau’s status as a 2025 Culture City of East Asia, the government announced yesterday.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) announced details of this year’s annual arts festival during a press conference at MGM COTAI yesterday.
IC President Deland Leong Wai Man said during yesterday’s press conference that the 35th Macao Arts Festival will present 15 different programmes comprising two arts exhibitions and 13 performances, covering theatre, Chinese opera, dance, and music, among others.
In addition to the performances and exhibitions, according to the press conference, 33 outreach activities will be held, covering meet-the-artist sessions, backstage tours, pre-show talks, lectures, workshops and screenings of international stage performances, among others.
Leong also underlined that local groups would account for about half of the groups slated to give performances during the upcoming arts festival.
The culture chief also said that this year’s festival is budgeted to cost 23.4 million patacas.
This year’s budget represents a decrease of 1.5 million patacas from last year’s one of 24.9 million patacas.
During the three-year COVID-19 pandemic from early 2020 through 2022, the annual arts festival was only suspended in 2020.
Sales of tickets for the 35th Macao Arts Festival will commence at 10 a.m. on Saturday next week, March 22.
Leong said that this year’s arts festival, themed “Growth”, is expected to showcase, through diverse artistic creations, the festival’s continued growth alongside its artistes and members of the audience, further polishing Macau’s “golden business card” as a “City of Performing Arts”.
Leong said that the upcoming arts festival will feature internationally renowned shows while being committed to highlighting Macau with traditional Chinese culture as its mainstream, demonstrating Chinese culture’s enduring creativity.
Leong underlined that the arts festival will stay committed to promoting the growth and development of local arts groups while also strengthening its presence in the community, aiming to enrich residents’ daily lives.
Leong also said that with this year marking Macau as a 2025 Culture City of East Asia, the upcoming arts festival will be organised with special emphasis on promoting cultural exchanges between China, Japan and South Korea, such as by featuring a Japanese musical and a traditional South Korean drum dance, alongside various Chinese shows such as a fusion performance of Chinese orchestra music and Cantonese opera.
The 2025 Culture Cities of East Asia comprise China’s Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and Huzhou City in Zhejiang Province, Japan’s Kamakura and South Korea’s Anseong.
Details in English about the 35th Macao Arts Festival can be checked on: https://www.icm.gov.mo/fam/35/en/ .
Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Deland Leong Wai Man (second from right) speaks during yesterday’s press conference at MGM COTAI about the upcoming 35th Macao Arts Festival (FAM) as three other IC officials look on. – Photo: Tony Wong
