The Scent of Lotus Perfumes the City of Macao – the 23rd Macao Lotus Flower Festival

The Scent of Lotus Perfumes the City of Macao - the 23rd Macao Lotus Flower Festival

“The Scent of Lotus Perfumes the City of Macao - the 23rd Macao Lotus Flower Festival” organised by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) will be held between 9 and 18 June, during which potted lotus flowers will be placed across Macao besides the main exhibition venue in Avenida da Praia, Taipa, delighting visitors with the beauty of lotus blooms. Meanwhile, a series of exhibitions and activities with rich content will be arranged for visitors to enjoy both physical and sedentary activities. The public are welcome to participate.

The theme of this year’s Lotus Festival is “Strolling through Lotus”, which is derived from establishing the Lou Lim Ioc Park in Macao and the Lion Grove Garden in Suzhou as sister gardens. The park and the garden are both designed in the style of Classical Gardens of Suzhou and are famous for lotus appreciation on the “Bridge with Nine Bends” inside both the park and the garden. Therefore, both classical and modern designs are used to depict the classical scene of “appreciating lotus on the Bridge with Nine Bends at sunrise” in the Lotus Flower Festival respectively. To tie in with the theme of design, the venue for flower exhibition in Avenida da Praia, Taipa is divided into three characteristic exhibition areas. The first exhibition area is “Classical Garden Scenery Area”: the inspiration comes from the unique scenery in the Lion Grove Garden and the Lou Lim Ioc Park, such as Bridge with Nine Bends, pavilions by the water, lion rock grove, characteristic scenery walls and openwork windows, which are connected in a new way by lotus flowers; the second exhibition area is “Modern Garden Scenery Area”: through modern design methods, abstract elements of the Lion Grove Garden and the stone forest in Lou Lim Ioc Park are used to form a group of artistic sculptures with simple shapes, which are in sharp contrast with the rock grove in the “Classical Garden Scenery Area”. There are also the grand fan-shaped arches, Imperial Reception Bridge full of flowers, modern screens and bamboo forest, presenting the charm of new Chinese design; the third exhibition area is “Entrance Square”: it is located in the centre of the venue and equipped with tables and chairs for resting, flower beds and plant landscapes, providing a buffer zone for moving on to the two areas above.

In addition to the lotus exhibition at the exhibition venue in Avenida da Praia, Taipa, the public may also walk to the nearby lotus wetland with an area of 69,000 square metres to observe and learn about the growth habits of lotus from a short distance. During this season when the lotus flowers are in full bloom, visitors can walk along the 1,100-metre-long bank facing the flowers and enjoy their beauty as well as the scenery of the lotus pond, and get to know the flora and fauna of the wetlands in Macao. In addition, IAM will place more than 5,000 potted lotus flowers in major streets, green areas, sightseeing spots and tourist attractions across Macao, such as Senado Square, Dr. Sun Yat Sen Municipal Park, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, Ruins of St. Paul’s and Lou Lim Ioc Park, showcasing the elegance and scent of lotus flowers to delight the public.

To complement the Lotus Flower Festival, IAM will also arrange various lotus-themed activities, including Connections Established – Exhibition on Lion Grove Garden in Suzhou and Lou Lim Ioc Park, workshop on (mobile phone) filming techniques of short videos on lotus, lotus-themed parent-child culinary workshop, lotus-themed workshop, eco-tour on appreciation of lotus and Hengqin lotus eco-tour. The Lotus Flower Festival is held to enrich the public’s cultural life and beautify the city, and leave a good impression on tourists visiting Macao.

Individuals who are interested in participating in the activities of the Lotus Flower Festival (see table) may apply for participation between 22 and 29 May through “Macao One Account” or in person at IAM’s Integrated Services Centre or various public services centres and their stations. The activities adopt an application method of “registration first, and then draw”. The results of the draw can be found on “Macao One Account” on or after 30 May, and IAM will notify the admitted applicants by SMS. Among them, the “eco-tour on appreciation of lotus” and “Hengqin lotus eco-tour” provide round-trip shuttle buses, and the details of the boarding location and time can also be found on “Macao One Account”.

Groups applying for the activities are required to download the prospectus from the Macao Nature website and submit the application form according to the instructions of the prospectus. Quotas are limited on a “first-come-first-served” basis. Admitted groups will be notified by designated staff for payment.

For details, the public may refer to the IAM website at www.iam.gov.mo and the Macao Nature website at https://nature.iam.gov.mo, or call the Civic Service Hotline at 2833 7676.