Press Conference for “Macao Light Festival 2016 – Treasure of Light”
“Macao Light Festival 2016 – Treasure of Light” will come on stage from 4th to 31st December, presenting video mapping projections, light installations, interactive games as well as a music and light show at various locations in Macao. This year, the Festival will introduce innovative projection techniques and new interactive elements, in hope that more citizens and visitors will come to enjoy a more fascinating program of the Festival which promises a more compelling effect as a mega event. The organizer, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), held a press conference today (25 November) to introduce the event program. Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Cultural Affairs Bureau and Sports Bureau are the event co-organizers. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes and Deputy Director Cheng Wai Tong, Vice President of Sports Bureau, Lau Cho Un, as well as representatives of Cultural Affairs Bureau and Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau were present in the press conference along with other personages today. Director Senna Fernandes stated that the Macao Light Festival will be inaugurated on 4th December, the same day with the Macao International Marathon and the Parade through Macao, Latin City. During the Macao Light Festival, the city will also celebrate the 17th Anniversary of the Establishment of Macao Special Administrative Region and the Christmas holidays. Through a line-up of mega events, the Government strives to unleash a greater synergy and transform Macao into a City of Events, in line with the city’s goal to become a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. “As the organizer, MGTO will put unsparing efforts to present a spectacular Macao Light Festival, hoping to set off a mass fervor for the dazzling event again, and forge the Festival into a signature annual event,” she remarked. Remarkable blend of technology and innovation “Macao Light Festival 2016 – Treasure of Light” will be staged from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily from 4th to 31st December. The route covers a total of eight venues including Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre, Avenida Panorâmica do Lago Nam Van, Anim’Arte Nam Van, St. Lawrence’s Church, Mandarin’s House, Lilau Square, Moorish Barracks and Barra Square. Revolving around a quest for the “Treasure of Light”, the Festival invites citizens and visitors to embark on an adventure as “explorers” to look for seven lost Energy Gems of Mazu, which symbolize the meaning of 'Hope', 'Perseverance', 'Health', 'Happiness', 'Harvest', 'Bravery' and 'Faithfulness'. By collecting the seven gems, they can awaken treasure from the sea and enjoy a virtual reality tour beyond their imagination. It is fun for participants, young and old, to enjoy the activities involved. The production team of the Festival this year mainly comprises local teammates and partners from Hong Kong. The entire production features innovative projection techniques of video mapping which is not confined to architecture façade. The video mapping show at Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre will be projected upon a cascade of water. In addition, more interactive elements as well as a new music and light show are included to attract local and foreign spectators. A new mobile application named “Treasure of Light” is launched this year, featuring maps of the covered routes, program, theme game, the latest information and selfie-taking feature. The content of the App is available in Chinese and English. The App can be downloaded by the public for free on App Store or Google Play. Video Mapping illustrates stories about Macao Four video mapping shows namely “Sailing”, “Inheritance”, “Source of Water” and “Carrying-on” will be staged at Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre, Mandarin's House, Lilau Square and Barra Square respectively. The shows will take the audience to travel back into the old days of Macao for its moving stories. The shows are scheduled as follows: 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m., 8:30 p.m., 9 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and 9:55 p.m. Every show spans 5 minutes. To facilitate the event “Walk for a Million”, the video mapping show and light installation at Barra Square will be temporarily suspended from 10th to 14th December. Light installations shine with new interactive elements Seven sets of light installations in total will be rolled out at various locations, including “Lake of Treasure” comprising 360 LED glow balls at Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre, “Path of Treasure” at Avenida Panorâmica do Lago Nam Van, “Light Painting, Neon Sketching and Street of Illusion” at Anim'Arte Nam Van, “Blessing Stairways” at St. Lawrence's Church, “Tree of Blessing” at Lilau Square, “Cave of Gems” at Moorish Barracks and “Harbor of Hope” at Barra Square. Most of the light installations will shine with new interactive elements. Among them, the “Light Painting” will enable spectators to creative their own graffiti of light and share photos on social network, while “Neon Sketching” will let spectators to sketch their own art pieces of neon light in concert. Creative interactive games add great fun A total of five interactive games with an enhanced level of interactivity will be available in the upcoming Festival. At Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre, “The Tree of Wishes” will enable participants to create their own fireworks through the LED Matrix installed for the video mapping show, whereas the “Romance Detector” at St. Lawrence's Church will combine video mapping effects to bestow blessings of love. For the “Lantern of Wishes” in Mandarin’s House, participants can ride a glowing seesaw to set off projections of blessing lanterns together. For the “Fountain of Light” at Lilau Square, participants can step into a fountain of light and collect gems flying down from the fountain. The public can play the interactive game “Lost Gem” on the mobile app “Treasure of Light” and collect the seven lost gems. They can then activate the collected gems on the game device “Eyes of Treasure” set up at Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre and Barra Square. After activating the seven gems, participants will be able to find the mysterious treasure and embark on a virtual reality tour. In addition, exquisite souvenirs can be redeemed at the two abovementioned locations. The interactive games will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. except during the video mapping shows. On 24th December, the “Romance Detector” will end earlier at 9 p.m. Music and light show bespokes local artistic power The newest music and light show named “Melody of Light” will come on stage at Anim’Arte Nam Van, where citizens and visitors can find various cultural and creative stores, a craft market and more. In the show, local artists will orchestrate an array of spectacular performances into a symphony of painting art, music and light. The show will demonstrate local artistic power and lead visitors into a local world of cultural and creative art, gracing the Festival with new leisurely experience. The performers will play different styles of music with different musical instruments glittering with glow graffiti painted by a local artist. Spanning 15 minutes, the music and light show will take place every half an hour from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the Macao Light Festival, as well as on 8th, 20th, 21st and 26th December. Last December, MGTO held the inaugural edition of the Macao Light Festival – Journey of Lights. Following the Festival, the Office conducted an impact evaluation of which the result confirmed that the event had widely won recognition from citizens and visitors. A line-up of festive events during last December, including Macao Light Festival, Macao International Marathon and the Parade through Macao, Latin City, had unleashed a synergistic effect and led to growth in various tourism figures. Following that, MGTO staged another widely popular event named “Valentine's Day Fantasia 2016 – The Fairytale of Lights” this February. In the future, MGTO will continue to organize a diversity of mega events to enrich the city’s offer of leisure experiences, while assisting to promote integrated and complementary development of various industries to open up a new landscape for the tourism and leisure industry. In addition, the Office will strive to deepen cooperation across the fields of tourism, culture and sports for a stronger synergy, in hope to attract visitors from various source markets and encourage them to stay longer in Macao. The office will also apply more innovative technology and multimedia in tourism to promote smart tourism development in Macao.
