The open-air performance venue in Cotai will continue to operate on a trial basis this year, where, according to the initial schedule, one concert is slated to be held in March and the other in May, with capacity limited to 20,000 spectators in March, Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Deland Leong Wai Man announced on Friday.
The government’s Coordination Group for Large-Scale Performances held on Friday a press conference at the Macau Cultural Centre to wrap up its assessment of the venue’s trial gig held on December 28. During the press conference, the group also called for applications for the two upcoming gigs.
According to Leong, at this stage, applications are open for concerts to be held respectively in mid- to-late-March and in mid-to-late May, with an audience capacity of 20,000 for the former, while the audience capacity for the latter will only be determined after the review of the March concert. She said: “Such an arrangement was made after two meetings with the coordination group, and after summarising its views from [last month’s] concert and consulting the two core entities, namely, the Public Security Police (PSP) and the Transport Bureau (DSAT), which considered that more aspects of stress-testing should be carefully conducted”.
Leong noted that her bureau had already received, prior to the press conference, more than 10 applications to hold a concert in the open-air venue, most of which, however, were expected to reach an audience of 50,000: “The response to the call for applications has been enthusiastic”. She added, however, that the organisers, who meet the new audience limited criteria, would now need to submit another application, together with the necessary materials including information on the organising, co-organising and sponsoring entities, the content of the event, the list of performers and organisations, the target audience size, the proposed date of the event and the number of days required for setting up the stage.
According to the “Charges for the Use of Macau’s Open-air Performance Venue” approved by the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture, the daily rental amount of the venue is based on the number of spectators, with a daily rental of 350,000 patacas for events with less than 30,000 spectators and 500,000 patacas for events with more than 30,000 spectators, while additional charges are applied to the days of rehearsals or setting up the equipment. Leong said that the pricing of the daily rental has been made in reference to the standards of open-air venues outside Macau, as well as the complementary facilities and advantages of individual venues, based on the “average” market rate: “Depending on the proposals we receive, if there are proposals that we consider to be more advantageous, we can further negotiate [the rent]”.
A further 25 percent discount is applied to the rental of the trial operation, according to the scale of fees and charges for approved uses of the open-air venue.
During the press conference, Leong underlined that future events at the open-air venue would continue to be planned in an orderly manner, with the aim of increasing audience capacity.
No further concert schedules have been planned yet, according to Leong.
‘It was a smooth event’: Leong
Wrapping up the group’s assessment of the trial concert held on December 28 in conjunction with Hong Kong TV station TVB, Leong said: “It was a smooth situation”, with the 11,000 spectators having completely dispersed within half an hour in various directions including several Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations, nearby integrated resorts and shuttle bus stops.
According to the Transport Bureau, a total of 84 buses were deployed for last month’s trial concert with a total of 3,800 passengers, of whom 2,000 travelled to the Barrier Gate checkpoint and 1,800 to Praça de Ferreira do Amaral, while the number of passengers who boarded the LRT at the Cotai East Station and East Asian Games Station amounted to 4,200.
Regarding the free rides on the LRT and buses for last month’s gig, Leong said that free shuttle buses will be provided for subsequent concerts held in the open-air venue even if they are not hosted by the government, underlining that the contractor will be requested to provide free shuttle bus services for concertgoers, while in terms of the free LRT rides, reference would be made to the experience gained from last month’s concert.
Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Deland Leong Wai Man addresses Friday’s press conference at the Macau Cultural Centre in Nape. – Photos: Yuki Lei
This handout photo provided by the bureau shows the trial concert held at the open-air performance venue in Cotai on December 28.
