It’s Art Month in HK! The Annual Hong Kong Arts Festival Has Started!

Happy Super March to everyone in Hong Kong!
Art Month has just started in Hong Kong, and there’s already so much going on! What better way to kickstart this month’s events than with the annual Hong Kong Arts Festival?
The Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) is an international arts festival covering a variety of performing arts genres — from classical music, Chinese music, world music, Western opera, Chinese opera, drama, and dance.
The 53rd edition of the Hong Kong Arts Festival officially opened on Feb. 28, 2025, with a performance by the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. The festival boasts to have more than 1,300 acclaimed international and local artists, staging over 45 programmes in more than 125 performances throughout its whole duration, including four new works/world premieres, five Asian premieres, and two co-productions. The festival will run until Mar. 29, 2025.
Main events for the 53rd Hong Kong Arts Festival include performances from renowned masters from Hong Kong and around the world, such as the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra, pianist-conductor Sir András Schiff, baritone Christian Gerhaher, pianists Elisso Virsaladze and Pi-hsien Chen, percussionist Li Biao, Cantonese opera veteran Yuen Siu-fai, and the Shanghai Yue Opera House.
The Festival also highlights performances of famous masterpieces, such as the opera Carmen and the ballet La Sylphide, and brand-new reinterpretations, including theatre works such as Thunderstorm, Crime and Punishment, TIME, Wuthering Heights, and HIPPOLYTUS.
There is also a strong emphasis on fantasy and adventure for this year’s Festival lineup, such as Jockey Club InnoArts Series: No reality now, Le Bal de Paris de Blanca Li, Jockey Club East-meets-West Series: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Beethoven Wars: A Battle for Peace and Bells and Spells. Some programmes use VR and AR technology for an immersive and interactive experience, while others use traditional puppetry and circus art.
The Hong Kong Arts Festival also continues to bring the arts into the community through a diverse series of over 300 outreach events for different schools, institutions, and communities. Other events for the public, including exhibitions, masterclasses, workshops, backstage tours, artist talks, film screenings, and local tours, are also organized to enhance the audiences’ overall Festival experience.
Tickets to the Hong Kong Art Festival programmes are available via URBTIX online and their outlets. Tickets to performances at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts are available through Cityline, while performances at the Xiqu Centre are available through the Xiqu Centre Ticket Office.
For more details on the events of the 53rd Hong Kong Arts Festival, visit the website here.
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