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RH Davies 3sq BE DFC Personnel Services Department Foreign and Commonwealth Office Curtis Grcen
London S
2 January 1973
You will recall that during my brief visit to London in November I mentioned to you the forthcoming Festival of rts in Hong Kong and asked if there was any possibility of my being given some kission Fund type assistance tonerds the cout of entertaining the visiting British artists, You kindly agreed to consider this sympathetically as soon as I could put sorward a more detailed 0220. Unfortunately it has taken me some time to get round to it emong other inmodi: to preoccupetions and because of some difficulty in establishing exactly what is expected of me. And I regret that I now have to ask for a rather urrent decisi n because I am being pressed to put my oney on the table, as it
ns
The Festivel is being held iron 26 February to 24 March. It is the :irst international festival to have been held in liong Kong and is boing oryznised by e specially formed rts Festival ociety under the chairmanship of e 1ealing Chino30 cmber of the Executive Council, with the Governor as Patron, and Ian Hunter as the ́rtistic Director. 1though basically a comercial enterprise to promote tourism (it is the main promotional activity in 1973 of the Hong Kong Tourist Association) it is also without doubt a cultural land mark for long long and the major event in the 1973 social calendr.
There ill be visiting artists from Japan, Germany, spain, Denmark, Indonesia ani ritain. The British contingent are the anuchin estival Orchestra, the onion Philharmonic, Bristol Old Vic and London Gela Fallet. latter are all here to ether in the first half of March.
The three
Because it is such an event (it is already a sell out) all of the Consuls Gonoral, with visiting artists, are throwing special receptions for them, and sone che have no visiting performers are also climbing on the social bandwagon.
Not suprisingly the estival Committee have assumed that the British Council Representative (Er & Bridges) and I (dll do something for the substantial british contingent. The fact that the British Council are giving a $10,000 guerantee to the London #hilharmonic is (in liong Konɛ terns) seon as a further rosson for, rather than as a disjonsution from, a British Government” reception. The various receptions, dinners etc that the Covernor, Chiefs and senior officials will be giving are not counted for this purpose they are "llong Kong" not "British”. For this purposes the only directly identifiable "pure" British Repržantatives are the ritist Council topresonte tire md the enior British Brado Cœmissioner.
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