Cultural Event Programme
One of the highlights in the official Handover programme will be the cultural performance symbolising Macau’s multi-cultural character and its unique blending of East and West. The structure for this event can accommodate nearly 3,000 people. It has been brought to Macau from the United Kingdom where it has been used for a number of similar large scale entertainment programmes.
As this is the first official event to be held in the Outer Harbour area, the entire programme will be coordinated in a line beginning at Alameda Dr. Carlos Assumpção up to the Cultural Centre Gardens, and then on to the Macau Forum in the early hours of the 20th of December where the Formal Swearing-In Ceremony of the Macau Special Administrative Region will occur.
CULTURAL EVENT PROMISES TO BE SPECTACULAR
The cultural event for the Handover Ceremony on the evening of December 19, promises to be one of the most exciting and elaborate events ever staged in Macau.
A cast of more than 1,100, the majority of them school-children, will take part in this magnificent programme to be staged in a giant temporary stadium which has been erected on the foreshore adjacent to the statue of Kun Iam.
They will perform before an invited audience of 2,500 dignitaries and guests, including President Jorge Sampaio of Portugal.
The programme reflects the history and heritage of Macau-- from its early days as a trading port, through four centuries of interracial harmony and cultural development. The finale will depict modern Macau, a centre for commerce and communication, well positioned to meet the challenges of the next century.
A number of top recording artists and musicians from Portugal and China will be joined by folk groups, dancers and performers drawn from both countries and from Macau. Portugal's most popular singer, Dulce Pontes, and the sought-after Luis Represas, will be joined by chinese soprano, Chen Jun Hua, guitarist Antonio Chainho and flutist Rao Kyao during the 90 minute programme.
The whole event was organised by a consortium of talented staff from MICE plc. from England and Ideias do Futuro of Portugal. A spokesman said they had agreed at the very beginning to use as many local people as possible, particularly children, in telling the colourful story of Macau.
The early evening performance will begin with a dragon dance involving 200 men accompanied by eight lion dance teams.
The programme opens with a busy wharf-side trading scene depicting Macau as it was over 400 years ago with Chinese and Portuguese sailors bartering their trade silver, porcelains and silk.
The story develops to show how Macau fought jealous trading rivals, particularly the Dutch, to begin a long period of peace, harmony and prosperity.
The performance will include the arrival in Macau of the Catholic missionaries and how they lived side by side with existing religions in the east. It will highlight the compatible interracial mix that existed in Macau which eventually created a new and unique community - the Macanese.
In the final act, as modern Macau comes to the fore, 442 children, each representing a single year in the history of Macau, will join with international stars to sing "Peace Celebration." and anthem for the event.
The stadium for the cultural event has been brought to Macau from England where it has been used for a number of similar events.
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