ENG-2006 — Page 456

384 Recreation, Sport and the Arts

Arts Education and Audience-building Projects

The LCSD promotes appreciation of the performing arts at community and school levels with the help of audience-building schemes and educational programmes, and by working with local arts groups and educational organisations.

During the year, the department held a total of 904 arts education and audience-building activities. Under the School Culture Day Scheme, schools take their students to the department's performing venues, museums and libraries during school hours. The School Arts Animateur Scheme was another programme that brought local groups together to provide training in the performing arts for school children.

Community audience building programmes during the year included the Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme and the District Cantonese Opera Parade. A Cultural Services Volunteers Scheme was also organised to get members of the public to serve as volunteers in their leisure time to promote arts and culture.

Major Cultural Events

Hong Kong Arts Festival

Held annually in February and March, the Hong Kong Arts Festival is one of the most important international festivals in Asia, and has become highly regarded worldwide since it began in 1973. With an array of notable performers taking part, the 2006 Festival attracted over 103 000 people to

103 000 people to its 108 performances, representing an average attendance rate of over 92.6 per cent per performance. The fare offered in the 2006 Festival programme included Semper Opera Dresden and Opera Nuremberg - Don Giovanni; San Francisco Symphony; Birmingham Royal Ballet -

Beauty and the Beast; Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan Cursive: A Trilogy; Rosas; National Theatre of Britain — The History Boys; U-Theatre and The Shaolin Temple Wushu Training Centre - A Touch of Zen; Salif Keita; as well as local dramas The Unexpected Man; Ending the World and Actors' Family The Legend of the White Snake.

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International Arts Carnival

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The six-week International Arts Carnival is the largest annual summer arts festival presented by the LCSD. Held in July and August, it provides healthy, educational and enjoyable entertainment for the whole family. In addition to the shows, the festival offered an opportunity for schoolchildren to tour the carnival ground before the fair opened, to join a fun party, take part in workshops, exhibitions, a graphic design competition and other activities. Some 156 000 people attended 427 shows, featuring 42 local and 10 overseas artist groups during the festival which ran from July 7 to August 13.

New Vision Arts Festival

The New Vision Arts Festival continued its avant-garde programming to showcase innovative music, dance and theatre focusing on contemporary Asian arts. The festival opened with the mesmerising performance by the Shen Wei Dance Arts in Rite of Spring and Near the Terrace and wound up the show with the cross-cultural