Inaugural Chinese Culture Festival's "Encountering Chinese Culture" carnival to be held in Sha Tin on June 9
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The carnival will kick off with a dragon and lion dance performance at 2pm at the Plaza of Sha Tin Town Hall, followed by a number of dance, drumming and magic performances by outstanding local and Mainland art groups. Performers from the Beijing Dance Drama and Opera will perform excerpts "Lantern Dance" and "Embroidery" from dance drama "Five Stars Rising in the East", which was the opening programme of this year's CCF, to present the audience with dance pieces infused with the flavour of the Western regions and Chinese classical styles. Audience members can also preview highlighted excerpts from some of the festival's programmes, including the "Fun Ride with Big Beard - Dancing Poems 2.0" by Hong Kong Dance Company Children's and Youth Troupes, the "New Dance Rhythms with Chinese Quintessence" and the "Chinese Magical Arts' Wonder" performances that are collaborated with the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Hong Kong Member Association, as well as classic Shanxi Jiangzhou drum music presented by local arts group Refiner Drums.
The carnival will feature eight cultural booths and workshops covering a wide range of intangible cultural heritage items of traditional craftsmanship, including blown sugar technique, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese paper-cutting, guangcai (the Canton famille rose porcelain) making, Hong Kong cheongsam making and Cantonese opera headdress crafting. Members of the public can experience the joy of Chinese culture and arts by watching the demonstrations and joining the workshops. As the Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, the carnival will set up booths for paper folding of dragon boats and rice dumplings, as well as festive fragrant sachets making. Families are welcome to join to experience the Chinese festive atmosphere. For more information on the workshops, please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/f_entertainment/programs_1744.html#tab_2_0.
To promote reading and traditional Chinese culture, the Hong Kong Public Libraries will arrange a Library-on-Wheels for the carnival with story ambassadors delivering classic stories related to Chinese culture to children. Books related to the theme of Chinese culture will also be displayed and available for the public to borrow on-site.
In addition, "Glowing Beauties - A Photo Exhibition on Ethnic Costumes" will be held from today (May 31) until the day of the carnival (June 9) at the Foyer and Exhibition Gallery of Sha Tin Town Hall. The exhibition features photos of the brocade armguard behind the dance drama "Five Stars Rising in the East" and costume photos of China's 56 ethnic groups. Members of the public can learn more about the distinctive cultural practices, costumes and traditional ways of life of each ethnic group. The Music Office trainees' ensemble will stage a Chinese instrumental performance at the foyer of Sha Tin Town Hall on the day of the carnival. "Talk on the Miao Embroidery and their Hidden Stories" will be held at 6pm at Lecture Room 1 of Sha Tin Town Hall when museum expert adviser Ms Lee Mei-yin will give a brief introduction on the history of the Miao and what she saw and heard in a Miao village. She will also introduce the embroidered shoulder straps in Miao style. Online preregistration for the talk is required on a first-come, first-served basis (www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/f_entertainment/programs_1744.html#tab_5_0).
For the venue and time of each carnival activity, please visit www.ccf.gov.hk/en/programme/encountering-chinese-culture.
The CCF, presented by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and organised by the LCSD's Chinese Culture Promotion Office, aims to enhance the public's appreciation of Chinese culture and cultivate citizens' national identity and cultural confidence. The inaugural CCF will be held from June to September. Through different performing arts programmes in various forms and related extension activities, including selected programmes of the Chinese Opera Festival, exemplary local arts projects recognised by the China National Arts Fund, performing arts programmes from arts and cultural organisations, film screenings, exhibitions, talks and more, the festival allows members of the public and visitors to experience the broad and profound Chinese culture with a view to promoting Chinese culture and patriotic education as well as enhancing national identity amongst the people of Hong Kong, making contributions to the steadfast and successful implementation of "one country, two systems". For details, please visit the CCF website www.ccf.gov.hk.
The LCSD has long been promoting Chinese history and culture through organising an array of programmes and activities to enable the public to learn more about the broad and profound Chinese culture. For more information, please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ccpo/index.html.
The carnival is one of the major activities for the LCSD Photo-taking and Video-shooting Competition. Members of the public are welcome to join. Please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ptvsc/index.html for more details.
Ends/Friday, May 31, 2024
Issued at HKT 16:40
Issued at HKT 16:40
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