The “Parade through Macao, Latin City”, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, will be held on Sunday, 4 December, in celebration of the 17th anniversary of Macao’s handover to China. In order to facilitate public involvement and enjoyment, the organizer is announcing several arrangements including traffic/street special measures and admission guidelines for the public. The Parade’s Opening Ceremony will be held at the Ruins of St. Paul’s on 4 December, at 4pm. From there, the Parade will proceed to Rua de S. Paulo, Largo de Santo António, Largo da Companhia, 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 S. Roque, Rua Nova de S. Lázaro, St. Lazarus Square, Rua do Volong, Rua do Tap Siac and Rua de Afonso de Albuquerque, culminating in the Closing Ceremony: Handover Celebration “Love, Peace and Cultural Integration” at Tap Siac Square, which will end at 7pm. In addition, in order to get more residents and tourists involved in the event, this year’s Parade offers an alternative route for some of the performing groups, departing from Senado Square at 4pm, simultaneously with the Opening Ceremony at the Ruins of St. Paul’s, winding its way past Largo do S. Domingos, Rua de S. Domingos, Rua da Palha, Rua de S. Paulo (Souvenirs Street), finally joining the remaining groups at the Ruins of St. Paul’s. The Parade general rehearsal will be held from 8pm to 10 pm on 3 December. On the days of the Parade and of the general rehearsal, traffic/street special measures will be implemented as follows: prior to 9am on 3 December, all tour buses must be removed from the parking zones of Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro; from 9am on 3 December to 8pm on 4 December, parking meters along the parade route will be closed; from 8pm to 10pm on 3 December, the Parade general rehearsal will be held, thus the traffic will be limited along the Parade route; lastly, from 1pm to 5:30pm on 4 December, temporary closures will be enforced on Rua de S. Paulo, Rua de Santo António, Largo de Santo António, Largo da Companhia, Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro and Rua dos Artilheiros, and vehicles parked in the above-mentioned locations will not be allowed to move during this period of time. Instructions for the public on the day of the Parade, 4 December: Starting from 2:30pm on the day of the Parade, the Ruins of St. Paul’s will close to the public. The audience areas for the Opening Ceremony will be located at Rua de S. Paulo, the stairway of the Ruins of St. Paul’s and Calçada de S. Paulo. Crowd control measures will be applied to all audience accesses from 2:45pm. Public can line up at the entrance at Rua de S. Paulo (near Loi Wo Temple), or the one located at the junction of Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro and Calçada de S. Paulo to watch the opening ceremony; admission is free. The Parade’s Closing Ceremony (Handover Celebration: “Love, Peace and Cultural Integration”) will be held at Tap Siac Square, where crowd control measures will be applied to the audience area from 4pm on that day. Public can access the square from the two entrances at Avenida de Sidónio Pais (near Hotel Estoril) or from those at Rua de Afonso de Albuquerque and Avenida do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida (in direction to Tap Siac Square). The public should line up at the entrance to watch the closing ceremony. Admission is also free. Due to limited space in the audience areas at the Tap Siac Square, people who line up at the entrance are allowed to enter the site until the audience areas are full. Aside from the Opening Ceremony and the Closing Ceremony, the public can also watch the performances along the Parade route by entering the audience area located at Rua de S. Paulo through Calçada do Amparo and Calçada do Embaixador, or by joining in other parts of the Parade route. For more information about the Parade, please visit the event’s website at www.icm.gov.mo/macaoparade.
