RECREATION
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Life Guard Club also attend the swimming pools and some beaches during weekends and public holidays. During 1967, there were 339 successful rescues as against nine fatalities.
The government's concern to provide opportunities for outdoor leisure is reflected in the formation of a Provisional Council for the Use and Conservation of the Countryside. The council will advise on the selection of recreational areas in the New Territories and conservation areas throughout the Colony. It will also suggest ways in which they might best be developed.
ENTERTAINMENT AND THE ARTS
The City Hall, now firmly established as the cultural centre of Hong Kong, celebrated its fifth anniversary during the year with a festival of music and fine arts. The month-long programme, presented by the Urban Council which administers the City Hall, involved 22 concerts of serious music, all by local artists; three major exhibi- tions of fine arts, children's art and photography. Public support was excellent. Some 50,000 people visited the exhibitions and 95 per cent of the 27,000 seats for concerts were taken up.
The success of this festival supports the view that performing and visual arts, which until comparatively recently played a minor part in the cultural life of Hong Kong, are now important and integral features of entertainment. While the cinema remains the most popular diversion, concerts, plays, operas and art exhibitions attract good audiences.
The City Hall facilities include a 1,500-seat concert hall convert- ible for theatrical performances; an intimate 470-seat theatre, an art gallery and several exhibition halls. Its two auditoria are available for hire throughout the year to local groups and visiting artists and, as a result, nearly every branch of music, drama and Chinese opera has prospered.
There are regular public performances by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and local choral groups and soloists gave a total of 170 concerts in the City Hall during the year. In drama, three very active English amateur groups and many Chinese dramatic groups, amateur and professional, presented 33 productions, with 103 performances.
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