Yuki Lei
The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has joined hands with Macau’s six integrated resort (IR) operators to host a raft of activities in celebration of the 24th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland, Winter Solstice, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
IC President Leong Wai Man said during a press conference at the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) in Nape yesterday that the “One Cultural Base” Presentation of the Winter Programme featuring seven major cultural festivals among the total of 25 activities aims to give “full play” to artistic and cultural events’ “linkage function” and thus create more iconic performance brands, striving to build a “performing arts” city.
According to the press conference, the programme’s “2023 Macau New Year’s Eve Countdown Concert” and “2023 Taipa New Year’s Eve Countdown Show” will be held, respectively, at the peninsula’s Praça do Lago Sai Van and at the area of the Taipa Houses Museum, with French-Guyanese-Brazilian singer Lia Sophia and Hong Kong singer and actress Joey Wong (known as JW – 王灝兒) as closing guests. A firework display was scheduled after the countdown on New Year’s Eve outside Macau Tower.
In addition, according to Leong, the “Unforgettable Melodies at the Ruins of St. Paul’s” by the Macau Orchestra and Macau Chinese Orchestra will be once again presented on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
The programme also includes “Alice”, a dance performance by Washington-based alternative dance company MOMIX, and “Makoto Ozone with Macao Orchestra” presented by Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG), among other activities organised by the six IR operators at their designated old quarters in the peninsula, Taipa and Coloane covered by the government’s ongoing revitalisation programme.
More details about winter activities are available at the IC website: www.icm.gov.mo.
IC plans to host “Fado Nights” at Dom Pedro V Theatre long term
Meanwhile, Leong announced yesterday that the bureau plans to launch a long-term performance programme entitled “Fado Nights” at the Dom Pedro V Theatre, adding that two fado singers have already been invited to perform every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in January and February.
The fado performance, combined with the architectural features of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed theatre, would be a novel cultural tourism project, Leong said, adding that the bureau will work with the tourism sector to enable more visitors to enjoy Macau’s unique tourism experience.
When asked about the feasibility of once again pedestrianising the city’s main thoroughfare, San Ma Lou, Leong said there were no conditions to hold such an event in Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro during the upcoming Chinese New Year which falls on February 10 next year, considering the ongoing roadworks in the Inner Harbour area. She also said that her bureau would closely monitor the traffic situation across Macau and consider the feasibility of pedestrianising the city centre’s avenue once more.
San Ma Lou (the Chinese name of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro) was temporarily pedestrianised during the last Chinese New Year early this year. Public response to the pedestrianisation was mixed.
Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Leong Wai Man announces details of the bureau’s upcoming winter-fest programme during yesterday’s press conference at the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) in Nape. – Photo: Yuki Lei
