ENG-1958 — Page 333

Chapter 20: The Arts

THE Hong Kong Festival of the Arts, begun as an experiment four years ago, has now become an institution. As in former years, the normal events in drama, music, art and literature provided a wide variety of performance and display for all who have an interest in the arts, both Chinese and Western. One innovation this year was the presentation of the open-air floodlit historical pageant "These Fabulous Islands' at the Government Stadium by the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children. Nearly a thousand performers took part in this event which was seen by some eighty thousand people, the proceeds being given to charity. Cultural organizations, business firms and the Armed Forces combined to make this a spectacular item in the Festival programme.

Nine drama groups, seven music groups, and twelve societies on the visual arts side, and one literary group with bilingual interests helped to make the Festival a very successful venture. Radio Hong Kong and Rediffusion provided special programmes and gave publicity, in Chinese and English, to the various events. The Festival Centre in the new Government car park on the Central Reclamation was larger than ever before. It contained not only exhibitions of Western art, photography, architecture, Chinese contemporary art, Chinese curios and a section devoted to children's art, but also an auditorium for films and lectures, a restaurant and, as an innovation this year, a Festival Club room. In addition, the Horticultural Society arranged a floral display and organized a competition for flower arrangement, while the roof was used almost every night for live demonstrations of Chinese boxing, judo, dancing, fencing, yoga and other events. In all, 71,930 people paid for admission to the Festival Centre, an increase of 13,000 over the highest figure so far recorded.

The Music Society of Hong Kong continued to link the various interests of music lovers in the Colony and again acted as co- ordinator of musical events during the Festival, offering prizes for the best musical compositions in certain fields.