HONG KONG – The 54th Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) officially opened today (27 February) with a performance by the Ballet Nacional de España. This year, more than 1,100 acclaimed international and local artists will stage more than 180 performances of over 45 programmes during the month-long Festival, including six new works/world premieres, six Asia premieres and six co-productions. As of today (27 February), 80% of the over 100,000 available tickets for the performances have already been sold.

The Festival’s opening ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre with The Honourable John K.C. Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as Guest of Honour. Joining him at the officiating party were Prof. Kingman Lo, Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Festival; Mr Sun Shangwu, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; The Hon Martin Liao, Chairman of The Hong Kong Jockey Club; Ms Rosanna Law, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism; Ms Manda Chan, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services; and Ms Flora Yu, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. The Festival Opening Performance was sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, and is one of three pillar programmes under “The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series”.

As always, this year’s Hong Kong Arts Festival brings together an exceptional line-up of leading international and local artists, such as conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition gold medallists Yunchan Lim and Aristo Sham, master choreographers Lin Hwai-min and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, ballet superstar Roberto Bolle, Cantonese opera veteran Yuen Siu-fai, leading Chinese dramatist Meng Jinghui, celebrated tenor Benjamin Bernheim, Jazz great Roberto Fonseca, among many others.

The Festival features numerous innovative, contemporary interpretations of classic works, such as Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin, Dance Theatre—Dream in The Peony Pavilion, Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, as well as two productions adapted from Greek tragedy and comedy—the dance theatre Antigone andJockey Club East-meets-West Series: Aristophanes’ Lysistrata.

In addition, the Festival continues to explore diverse forms of the performing arts, including minimalist works such as Ontroerend Goed’s “no-actor” play Handle with Care, as well as artstech productions such as the Jockey Club InnoArts Series: KAGAMI by Ryuichi Sakamoto & Tin Drum, offering a stunning mixed-reality experience.

This year’s HKAF continues to bring the arts into the community through a diverse series of about 300 outreach and PLUS events. These include, among others, special events for Young Friends, and educational activities for students at primary, secondary and tertiary schools. There are also Festival “PLUS” events targeted at different sectors of the community, including exhibitions, masterclasses, workshops, backstage tours, artist talks, film screenings and guided cultural tours, enhancing the Festival experience for audience members.

Photo Credit: Hong Kong Arts Festival

Hong Kong Arts Festival 2026 runs from 27th February to 29th March 2026. For more information about the Hong Kong Arts Festival, visit hk.artsfestival.org.