Spectators around the city share the festive joy and experience Macao in “event” style
The mega festive event for Chinese New Year, entitled the “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Rooster”, came into spotlight tonight (30 January), presenting an array of fantastic highlights for residents and visitors including an opening show, float parade, procession of performance groups, finale show of cultural performances, fireworks display and float exhibition. The entire parade was live broadcast on two local TV stations and on LED screens installed at nine locations in Macao, so that people around the city could share the joy of festive celebrations and experience Macao in the style of “events”!
The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government, Alexis Tam; Chief of Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ip Peng Kin; Director of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; President of Management Committee of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, José Tavares; President of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Ung Vai Meng; Chief of Sports Facility Management Department of Sports Bureau, Joe Ho, and Director of Asia Tourism Exchange Center, Li Jian Ping, officiated the launch ceremony to kick off the annual festive Parade together with other guests at the front square of Macao Science Center at 8 p.m. Hong Kong celebrity hosts Bob Lam and Sarika Choy were invited to host the activity. The stage was dazzled by pheonix dancers and Hong Kong pop band C AllStar. Following that, 14 dazzling floats and 688 performers started in procession, making a grand march towards a brighter year ahead with spectators.
The Parade is held under the theme of “All Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix for the Dawn of Spring” this year. In the story, birds of all kinds gather in Macao to welcome the phoenix, which breaks through the golden eggshell and bestows wishes of happiness, good fortune, longevity and prosperity to residents and visitors in Macao at the dawn of Chinese New Year. The dazzling procession of floats and performance groups passed through Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-Sen on Macao Peninsula until Sai Van Lake Square in front of Macau Tower. Along the way, they won applause and cheers from spectators, which filled the parade route with joyful vibes; spectators keenly took selfies and photos for each other while enjoying the Parade.
A finale show of cultural performances was then staged at Sai Van Lake Square at 9 p.m. Local singers Ari, Alan Tse and Viviana Lo joined hands with Hong Kong singers Fred Cheng and Joyce Cheng to make a fantastic show for the night, followed by a fireworks display at 9:45 p.m which enlivened the city with a joyful atmosphere.
MGTO Director Senna Fernandes expressed that the Parade has become an annual signature event of the city. She hoped that this dazzling festive event, combining colorful dimensions of different cultures, would bestow the warmest wishes upon Macao residents and visitors from around the world. Besides, MGTO will make continuous efforts to take the events to a new level of scope and impact such that visitors from a wider diversity of markets around the world will find Macao a fascinating destination as more local residents are prompted to join the events.
There will be another float parade and finale show of cultural performances on the eighth day (4 Feb) of Lunar New Year. This year, MGTO and Macao Cultural Heritage Reinventing Studies Association have jointly organized the “Chinese New Year Parade Float Snapshot” Competition. Between 30 January and 7 February, residents and visitors can upload their photos of the “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Rooster” to Instagram. After that, they can add the hashtags “@heritage.mo”, “#macao2017” and “#cnyparade2017” and then share the photos for a chance to win cash prizes. For more details about the competition, please browse MGTO’s website: http://www.macaotourism.gov.mo.
