Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes told reporters yesterday that she increased this year’s light festival budget to 21 million patacas.
Senna Fernandes made the remarks on the sidelines of yesterday’s open-air press conference in Taipa about the “Macau Light Festival 2020 – Light Carnival”.
According to a statement that was provided during the press conference, the festival will start on September 26 and run until October 31 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily in Tap Seac, Nam Van, Areia Preta, Taipa Village and other locations. The statement said there will be light installations and interactive games at a number of venues on the peninsula and in Taipa. The statement pointed out that there will be a mega-mapping show in Praça do Tap Seac for the first time against a backdrop of four historic buildings.
Senna Fernandes said that this year’s budget increased by one million patacas compared to last year because this year’s festival would install more projectors for the light displays in Praça do Tap Seac. She also added that the festival this year would be longer than in previous years.
When asked about COVID-19 prevention measures, she said that installing new facilities to implement the measures such as by installing special devices for temperature checks and hand sanitising “did not cost too much”. She added that the bureau would not limit the number of people because the bureau was not expecting as many people as in previous years. She said that there will be queues with social distancing requirements to ensure people would not crowd together.
Senna Fernandes stressed that the bureau would abide by all the Health Bureau’s novel coronavirus prevention guidelines, and if the Health Bureau would come up with any new guidelines for the festival, MGTO would adjust its anti-COVID-19 measures. She also said she acknowledged that people could be expected take their facemasks off to pose for photos, adding the only thing that MGTO could do was to remind them to keep their facemasks on.
Fireworks
Senna Fernandes also said that even though the Macau International Fireworks Display Contest has been cancelled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the National Day firework show will go on as always. She said that for this year’s pyrotechnic spectacle on October 1, a local team has cooperated with its counterpart in Hengqin, adding that the former would be in charge of the fireworks while the latter would be in charge of the music for the show.
Senna Fernandes said that the 1.7 million pataca firework display will be near Macau Tower.
This handout concept design photo provided by MGTO shows an installation for the light-fest entitled “Circus Show” in Areia Preta Urban Park.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes talks to reporters after yesterday’s press conference in Taipa about the upcoming “Macau Light Festival 2020 – Light Carnival”. Photo: Prisca Tang
