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The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will present a wide range of activities including lantern carnivals, a thematic lantern exhibition and a lantern design competition entries exhibition to celebrate the coming Mid-Autumn Festival. Admission to all activities is free.
Featuring a variety of entertainment programmes, lantern carnivals will be held at Tung Chung Man Tung Road Park on September 28, at Tai Po Waterfront Park on September 29 and at Victoria Park on September 30.
The highlight of the three lantern carnivals will be spectacular folk song, dance, instrumental and acrobatic performances by the Hunan Arts Troupe from the Mainland supported by the Office for Cultural Affairs with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Regions, Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China. There will also be demonstrations of Hunan folk craft such as palm weaving, "nuo" masks, Tantou New Year woodprints and Xiangxi Miao painting by craft masters. Supported by the Department of Culture of Guangdong Province, demonstrations of Chinese folk craft by Guangdong Chaozhou masters will also be featured.
The three lantern carnivals will have fascinating puppet shows including shadow, string, rod and hand puppetry, enabling carnival-goers to enjoy these precious Chinese traditional performing arts.
All the carnivals will be decorated with beautiful lanterns and will be open to the public from September 27 to October 2. The Victoria Park carnival will showcase several spectacular lantern displays such as the "Lantern Wonderland" organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. There will also be a traditional hand-made mega-size lantern in the shape of a lotus dragon soaring and dancing in the air, organised by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. The dragon's head is styled after the rolling dragon of Haifeng and Lufeng in southern China, and the body is made up of more than 30 lotus lanterns.
At the Tung Chung Man Tung Road Park, a parade of floats, a lion dance and martial arts will showcase the beauty of tradition, while at Tai Po Waterfront Park, the lantern installations of "Legend Wonderland" will take visitors on a lively journey embracing colourful lanterns originating from renowned Eastern and Western legends.
Details of the carnivals are as follows:
1. New Territories West Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival
September 28 (Friday), 7.30pm to 10.30pm
Tung Chung Man Tung Road Park
Programme: Spectacular Chinese ethnic dance and
songs, acrobatics, Chinese instrumental music,
puppetry, Chinese stage arts, lion dance, parade
of floats, demonstration of Chinese folk crafts
and lantern installations
2. New Territories East Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival
September 29 (Saturday), 7.30pm to 10.30pm
Tai Po Waterfront Park
Programme: Spectacular Chinese ethnic dance and
songs, acrobatics, Chinese instrumental music,
puppetry, ballet, demonstration of Chinese folk
crafts, lantern quiz, outdoor film screening,
wish-making corner and lantern installations
3. Urban Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival
September 30 (Sunday), 8pm to 11pm
Victoria Park
Programme: Spectacular Chinese ethnic dance and
songs, acrobatics, fire dragon dance parade,
puppetry, demonstration of Chinese folk crafts,
lantern quiz and lantern installations
There is also a thematic lantern exhibition, "Terracotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty", being held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza from now until October 21. Inspired by the Qin terracotta army, the display showcases the spectacle of the terracotta warriors of the Qin dynasty.
An exhibition featuring the winning designs and all entries of the 2012 Mid-Autumn Lantern Design Competition will be held at the Exhibition Hall, 1/F, Low Block, Hong Kong City Hall, from September 27 to October 6.
People are urged not to litter or burn wax while celebrating the festival.
For more information about the lantern carnivals, please call 2591 1340 or visit the website: www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Entertainment/EntertainmentOffice/events_details/12lanterncarnival/index.html.
Ends/Thursday, September 20, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:00
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