ENG-1976 — Page 266

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RECREATION

The council's recreation programme consisted of some 1,200 sporting events organised jointly with sports associations. Sports covered included football, mini- soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, table tennis, judo, bowling, cycling, handball and canoe racing.

To bring more colour and greenery to the crowded urban areas, 226,096 trees, shrubs and flowers were planted during the year. The Urban Council and Urban Services Department now manage a total of 1,657 acres of public open space-1,092 acres in urban areas and the rest in the New Territories.

The annual Urban Council flower show, held in mid-March, attracted 74,830 visitors to the City Hall.

Entertainment and the Arts

The importance of Hong Kong as a major cultural centre in Asia is illustrated by the many overseas artists and performing groups presented at the City Hall by the Urban Council. In 1976 there were 51 such performances. Some were presented with the assistance of various consulates and national cultural organisations such as the British Council, the Alliance Francaise, the Goethe Institute and the Dante Alighieri.

Cultural life in Hong Kong has centred around the City Hall since it was opened in 1962. It is administered by the Urban Council and facilities include: a 1,500-seat concert hall which can quickly be converted for theatrical productions;-an intimate 470-seat theatre which may also be used as a cinema; two exhibition areas; rooms for lectures and conferences; and two restaurants with bars. The buildings also house the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the City Hall Library.

Local performers as well as visiting artists appear regularly in the two auditoria, and the demand for use of facilities is heavy. Local artists presented by the Urban Council in 1976 gave performances which included 61 concerts of Chinese and Western music, and 22 productions of opera, drama and dance. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra performed 21 different programmes in 42 concerts in its third professional season.

Apart from Urban Council presentations, local music groups and soloists gave 130 concerts at the City Hall during the year. In drama, many Chinese groups- amateur as well as professional-and three English amateur groups presented 39 productions, with 116 performances at the City Hall.

The major event of the year was the 1976 Arts Festival, presented in February by the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society in association with the Urban Council. A full month of music, drama and dance was provided by international and local per- formers including the Halle Orchestra and the Chichester Festival Theatre Company from Britain, the Mummenschanz Swiss mime masque theatre, the Paco Pena Flamenco dance ensemble, leading ballet dancers from Europe, Emlyn Williams, Peter Katin, Moura Lympany, Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, and Hong Kong's own Philharmonic Orchestra, children's choir, and Chinese Orchestra. Other local