Wonderful giant balloons were appeared at Tap Seac Square
In celebration of the 16th anniversary of Macao’s handover to China and the 10th Anniversary of the inscription of “The Historic Centre of Macao” on World Heritage List, the “Parade through Macao, Latin City” was held on Sunday, 6 December, with “Fantastic VIVA Treasure Hunt Adventure” as theme and “An Annual Celebration for the Entire City - VIVA” as motto again. VIVA led the public into a fantastic adventure, uncovering mysterious treasures and promoting the ideals of “Peace, Love and Cultural Integration”, celebrating the handover together. It attracted over 1,000,000 audience including those who presented at the parade, those who watched the live broadcast from television and those who watched from outdoor screens at various locations. The opening ceremony of “Parade through Macao, Latin City” was attended by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao S.A. R. Government, Alexis Tam Chon Weng; Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao S.A.R., Sun Da; Deputy Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao S.A.R., Cai Siping; Consul General of the Republic of Cuba in Guangzhou, Isabel Esperanza Perez Suarez; Consul General of Peru in Hong Kong and Macao, Sergio Manuel Avila Traverso; Representative of the Consul General of Portugal in Macao and Hong Kong, Liliana Inverno; Consul of Mexico in Hong Kong, Beatriz Eugenia Nava Dominguez; Vice Consul of the Republic of Ecuador in Guangzhou, Carlos Francisco Lopez Arguello and the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, Ung Vai Meng. Set off from the Ruins of St. Paul's on a fantastic adventure This year the Parade developed as a treasure hunt . VIVA led the bravest citizens of Macao and abroad and followed the clues provided in a treasure map to uncover its secrets and conquer a mysterious energy. The Parade included new decorations and creative characters in three secret areas designed by three young local illustrators, Fok Hoi Seng, Un Chi Wai and Lam Ieong Kun, presenting a new surge of creativity and increasing the public’s engagement. The Parade’s opening ceremony was held at 4pm at the Largo da Companhia de Jesus. The guests activated the fantastic “Intrepid” ship to start the journey. In the meantime, several participants in “Macao Galaxy Entertainment International Marathon” also attended in the opening ceremony and witnessed the activation of “Party Gathering”. After that, performing groups from Latin-speaking countries and other countries and region, together with local talents, began an extraordinary treasure hunt journey. Nearly 60 performing groups participated in the Parade this year, in which 43 local performing groups joined, with a total of around 1,500 participants. Local performing groups featured Cantonese opera, mime, theatre, magic, music, martial arts, folk and oriental dances. The foreign performing groups included the French group Plasticiens Volants, French troupe Herbert’s Dream, Caretos de Podence from Portugal, the Luyi Folk Arts Group from Henan Province, Reyog Moncar Manggala Surakarta from Indonesia, Hong Kong Vigour Marching Band, the traditional Aztec dance brought by Mexican troupe Danza Azteca, the colourful and rich creole culture by the Caribbean Carnival Group from Guadeloupe, the sacred dragon from Hong Kong’s Art Home puppet workshop and performances by the street mime workshop “Black and White Journey” and oversea Chinese national performing groups, allowing the public to fully participate in this festive occasion and creating a joyful atmosphere in streets and alleys. At Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro and Rua de Sanches de Miranda “face painting workshops” were set up for the public to get their faces painted, thereby contributing to an even greater festive atmosphere. The performing groups began at the Ruins of St. Paul's and proceeded to Rua de S. Paulo, Travessa da Paixão, Largo de Santo António, Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro, Rua dos Artilheiros, Rua de Sanches de Miranda, Calçada da Igreja de S. Lázaro, Santa Casa da Misericórdia Albergue, Rua de São Roque, Rua Nova de São Lázaro, St. Lazarus Square, Rua do Volong, Rua do Tap Siac, Rua de Afonso de Albuquerque, and arrived at its final destination, Tap Seac Square, at 5:30pm to have the “Handover Celebration”. This year, the organizer set up two seating areas at Tap Seac Square so that the public could watch the performances clearly and comfortably. In the “Handover Celebration”, each performing group presented the performance one by one. French troupe Herbert’s Dream presents uncommon marvellous show on stilts whereby five enormous and four-metre high stilt artists participate in a mysterious ceremony held under hypnotising music, mutating into human light bulbs and creating a magical atmosphere. Besides, the audience were even more excited when it came with the colourful light show effect. The French group Plasticiens Volants brought giant balloon performance themed as kid’s dream. The story was originated from the classic American comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, with giant balloons built up the dream scene. This dream scene was brought to the sky over Tap Seac Square. Live broadcast of excerpts of the Parade and related activities Excerpts of the event were broadcasted on Hong Kong TV channels, thereby increasing reputation of the Parade. TDM, Teledifusão de Macau S.A., broadcasted the entire event live and outdoor screens were installed at several locations – Senado Square, Rotunda de Carlos da Maia, Areia Preta Garden and Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro. The popular Hong Kong TVB programme ‘Scoop’ will feature a foretaste of the event on 14 December, as well as a Parade Special Programme dedicated to the event’s highlights, to be broadcast on 15 December. The Parade has featured a series of related activities, including the contest “Find the Treasure and be Eligible to Win Plane Tickets” in WeChat, which had over 6,000 people actively participated. This year’s Parade was particularly organised on the same day with “Macao Galaxy Entertainment International Marathon”, with the opening ceremony of “Macao Light Festival - Journey of Lights” at night. The governmental departments from culture, sports and tourism areas cooperated in order to develop a synergistic effect more positively, bringing local specialised events’ celebration activities. The Parade was organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and co-organized by the Macao Government Tourist Office, the Macao Sport Development Board, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, the Public Security Police Force, the Transport Bureau, the Fire Services Bureau, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau of Macao and the Macao Association for the Promotion of Exchange between Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The Cultural Affairs Bureau also received the support of the Macao General Union of Neighbourhood Associations, the Macao Sam Pa Mun Residents Mutual Aid Association, the Macao Soi Ho Cheok Residents Mutual Aid Association, as well as VIVA Ambassadors' supporters, namely the Bank of China Macau Branch Volunteers Association, the Macau Flying Eagles Association, the Macao Community Youth Volunteers Development Association, General Volunteers Association of Macao, the Scout Association of Macau, and the Association of Volunteers Social Service Macao. In addition, this edition was also fully supported by Air Macau Co, Ltd. In addition, TDM - Teledifusão de Macau S.A. served as designated television broadcaster.
