Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Winter approaches, and that means the excitement is mounting in Hong Kong. WinterFest, the Chinese New Year Celebrations and the Hong Kong Arts Festival are on their way! From 29 November until 2 January, Hong Kong will be celebrating Christmas and welcoming 2011 with its highly-anticipated Hong Kong WinterFest fireworks event.


During this time, the region is magically transformed with fireworks and decorations. The skyscrapers are illuminated; the malls, shops and hotels are decked out in their Christmas finery and the gorgeous Swarovski Crystal Christmas Tree – bearing over twenty million Swarovski crystals – soars in dazzling splendour over Statue Square in Central, Hong Kong’s heart. Carol singers will raise their voices at tourist spots around the city, sharing their message of love and peace. Hong Kong’s stores will be offering shoppers superb winter sales, restaurants and hotels will maintain Hong Kong’s reputation as the Culinary Capital of Asia by serving delicious winter delicacies.

In addition to these fireworks celebrations, Hong Kong’s outstanding attractions will be staging their own Christmas festivities. Disneyland will become a fairytale land with decorations and an all-new Gingerbread Village. Ngong Ping 360 will feature a snowfall, themed food and a Christmas craft workshop. Santa’s ‘Little Helpers’ will be busy at Madame Tussauds, dinosaurs will be featured in their own spectacular event, horses will be competing in the famous Hong Kong International Races while The Nutcracker will charm ballet lovers of all ages. The Christmas season is a wonderful time to visit Hong Kong.

The excitement does not end when 2011 arrives, for just a few short weeks later the Chinese New Year celebrations begin. On 3 February the Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade starts the festivities with spectacular floats, fireworks performers and musicians, all of whom wind their way through the city in front of excited crowds. The following evening a spectacular fireworks display will light up Hong Kong’s incomparable skyline, while the ensuing days will see horse races, the Hong Kong Marathon, the Lunar New Year Cup soccer tournament and the charming Lantern Festival.

Mid February also sees the commencement of the highlight of Hong Kong’s cultural life. It’s the Hong Kong Arts Festival, celebrating its 39th season in 2011 with over 200 performances and events in 35 venues over 39 days. Those days are from 17 February through to 27 March, days full of riches as 54 performing groups from overseas and Hong Kong gather to entertain their audiences.

Dance lovers will be enchanted by a variety of highly-regarded companies: the New York City Ballet, the Tanztheater Wuppertal, the Beijing Dance Theater, the Asia Pacific Dance Platform and the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Their performances will include Serende, West Side Story Suite, Waves, The Golden Lotus, Hobson’s Choice and the Tanztheatre Wuppertal’s beautiful Carnations, which is performed on a stage fireworks covered with thousands of pink flowers.

In addition, the Festival will present a variety of PLUS events, inviting audiences to meet artists and to participate in backstage tours and a variety workshops. Youth are also catered to via the Festival’s Young Friends Scheme that offers half-price student tickets. For 39 wonderful days and nights Hong Kong will be the place to be for lovers of the arts and their families.

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