ENG-2007 — Page 448

380 Recreation, Sport and the Arts

Hong Kong International Film Festival and Hong Kong Film Awards Presentation Ceremony.

The department continued to work with the consulates-general and foreign cultural institutions in Hong Kong to promote cultural exchanges by sponsoring cultural events such as the Mexican September and Le French May.

Entertainment Programmes

During the year, a total of 648 carnivals and entertainment programmes were organised by the LCSD. More than 835 000 people attended these events.

Outdoor extravaganzas included the Lunar New Year Lantern Carnival, the New Year's Eve Countdown Carnival, and the Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival, which featured over 150 ethnic artists from the Mainland in the spectacular Chinese Ethnic Arts Parade, as well as the Youth Band Marathon. To enhance cultural exchange between the local and Asian communities in Hong Kong, the LCSD continued to organise such events as the Concert in the Park and the Asian Ethnic Cultural Performances. The former was presented in collaboration with the Consulate-General of the Philippines, while the latter, which featured Japanese cultural performances this year was jointly presented with the Consulate-General of Japan.

Arts Education and Audience-building Projects

During the year, a total of 771 arts education and audience-building activities. were organised by the LCSD to help Hong Kong people, particularly schoolchildren, better appreciate the performing arts through organised visits to cultural venues and outreach arts activities to schools and the community.

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. It is also recognised around the world as a major event. The 2007 Festival attracted over 105 000 people to its 98 performances, the highest number in the festival's 35-year history. The festival's highlights included the Welsh National Opera's La bohème, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Leipzig Ballet with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Chorus and Soloists of the Leipzig Opera The Great Mass, Sylvie Guillem in Akram Khan's Sacred Monsters, Tango Buenos Aires and My Life as a Dancer The evolution, The Actor's Gang's 1984, Watermill Theatre and Old Vic Productions by Propeller of The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night and Lost Village, Yohangza Theatre Company's A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as local dramas Shu Ning Presentation Unit's And Then There's You, and All Theatre Company's Yu Yu Mi Mi — A Love Story.

International Arts Carnival

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The six-week International Arts Carnival presented by the LCSD, held in July and August, was an event for the entire family. In addition to an array of performing arts programmes, the festival offered an opportunity for school children to enjoy pre- festival performances and take part in workshops, exhibitions, a graphic design