The 52nd Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) celebrated its official finale today (22 March) with a performance of A Sigh of Love by the Shanghai Ballet. The Finale Toasting Ceremony was held after the performance at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

The Officiating Party included Guest of Honour Mr Chan Kwok-ki, Chief Secretary for Administration of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, who was joined by Professor Kingman Lo, Vice-Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Festival; Mr Joe Wong Chi-cho, Permanent Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism; Mr Vincent Liu Ming-kwong, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services; Dr Liu Yagan, Chairman and Executive Director of ICBC (Asia); Ms Winnie Yip, Head of Charities (Culture, Sports and Community Engagement) at The Hong Kong Jockey Club; and Ms Flora Yu, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. The Festival Finale performance was exclusively sponsored by ICBC (Asia).

The one-month long Hong Kong Arts Festival this year presented more than 1,400 acclaimed artists from at home and around the world in over 150 performances of 47 programmes. The featured works included 10 new works/world premieres, five Asian premieres and two co-productions. Over 92% of tickets available at the box office were sold. In addition, about 100 free events took place over two weekends at HKartsFestival@TaiKwun, while approximately 340 Festival PLUS and education activities, including two exhibitions, were also organized by the HKAF. The Festival is estimated to have reached more than 300,000 people from Hong Kong, mainland China and overseas through its diverse range of performances and events this year.

In addition to the main programme, the Festival also offered about 340 Festival PLUS, educational and outreach events in performance venues and community locations. Festival PLUS offered a comprehensive range of cultural activities including talks, masterclasses, workshops, backstage tours, meet-the-artist sessions, film screenings, as well as exhibitions to enrich the community’s Festival experience.

The HKAF’s Young Friends Scheme remained popular amongst students this year. More than 90 school tour showcases and in-school workshops reached more than 13,000 students, and around 4,000 secondary and tertiary school students became members of Young Friends. Discounted student tickets were in high demand and more than 11,000 were made available, fully supported by donations to the Student Ticket Scheme.

With the support of corporate sponsors, the HKAF organises a wide range of outreach programmes via the school-based projects as well as arts appreciation performances and workshops targeted at young students. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust continues to sponsor the Student Matinee programme, enabling several thousand students, who might otherwise have lacked the resources or opportunities, to attend two performances by the Hankyung arte Philharmonic.

For more information about the Hong Kong Arts Festival, visit hk.artsfestival.org.