Poster of the “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Rooster”
Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) will present its mega festive event in celebration of Chinese New Year together with residents and visitors, entitled the “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Rooster”, on the third day (30 January) and eighth day (4 February) of Lunar New Year. The event features fabulous float parades, mega joint performances, splendid fireworks display, float exhibition, snapshot competition and so forth. In the days ahead, MGTO will keep taking its festive events to a new level of scope and impact to attract visitors from a greater diversity of markets to Macao and encourage more local residents to participate in the events.
The “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Rooster” is organized by MGTO and co-organized by Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Macao Sports Bureau and Cultural Affairs Bureau. The event is also supported by China National Tourism Administration as one of the sponsoring entities. A press conference about the “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Rooster” was held at the Tourism Activities Centre today (12 January). MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Acting President of Macao Sports Bureau, Lau Cho Un, MGTO Deputy Director Cecilia Tse, Head of Department of Civic Affairs and Consultation of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Patsy Ko Pui San, and Head of Arts and Performance Division of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Paula Lei, were present in the press conference along with representatives of the supporting and sponsoring entities.
Enhance scope and impact of events; attract residents and visitors from various markets
MGTO Director Senna Fernandes expressed that the Parade, marching into its fifth year, has become an annual signature event of the city. This year, revolving around a story about golden eggs prepared by the God of Wealth in celebration of the New Year, the event is ready to captivate audience with fantastic float parades, mega joint performances, dazzling fireworks display, float exhibition, snapshot competition and more. She hopes that this annual festive event shining with characteristics of different cultures will bestow the brightest wishes upon Macao residents and visitors from different parts of the world, along with wonderful opportunities to enjoy the festive ambience of the city where East meets West. Besides, MGTO will keep taking its festive events to a new level of scope and impact such that visitors from a greater variety of places and market segments around the world will find Macao an appealing destination and more local residents will participate in the events.
Spectacular festive events around town; birds of all kinds bestow New Year wishes
The Parade goes 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. Marching across streets and plazas imbued with local color, the float parade continues to shine as a major highlight of the event. Along the way, souvenirs will be given out to spectators. The Parade together with other festive activities will brighten up the city with joyful vibes during Chinese New Year.
Fireworks dazzle the third night of Lunar New Year; wishes spread through live broadcast
On the third day of Lunar New Year, there will be a float parade and procession of performance groups, followed by a finale show of cultural performances and fireworks display. A launch ceremony will be held in front of Macao Science Center at 8 p.m. to kick off the Parade. Passing through Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-Sen on Macao Peninsula, 14 dazzling floats will proceed together with 688 performers in different groups from nearly 10 countries and regions until the destination at Sai Van Lake Square in front of Macau Tower, making a grand march towards a brighter year ahead with spectators. Spectator seats will be set up at three locations including the roundabout in front of Macao Science Center (the Palace of Peacock), the front square of Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre (the Palace of Crane) and the front square of Rua da Torre de Macau (the Palace of Magpie).
Besides, a finale show of cultural performances will be staged at Sai Van Lake Square at 9 p.m. Local singers Ari, Alan Tse and Viviana Lo will join hands with pop band C AllStar, singers Fred Cheng and Joyce Cheng from Hong Kong to make a fantastic show for the evening. Hong Kong celebrity hosts Bob Lam and Sarika Choy are invited to host the show. In addition, part of the parading procession will join the stage performance upon arrival at Sai Van Lake Square, followed by a fireworks display at 9:45 p.m, together enlivening the city with a joyful atmosphere.
For the convenience of local and visiting spectators, MGTO will operate a free shuttle bus service around eight routes between the designated Parade venues and various districts on Macao Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane.
Starting from 8 p.m. on the night, MGTO will live broadcast the Parade on LED screens installed at different locations as follows: Friendship Square, the roundabout at Macao Science Center, Iao Hon Market Garden, Park of Dr. Carlos d'Assumpção, Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre, Tap Seac Square, Largo dos Bombeiros, Rua de Pedro Nolasco da Silva and Sai Van Lake Square so that audience can enjoy the whole Parade. At the same time, TDM and Macao Cable TV will live broadcast the Parade on the third day of Lunar New Year and record the Parade on the eighth day of Lunar New Year for subsequent broadcast; a special program about the Parade will also be broadcast on TVB Jade channel and TVB J5 channel in Hong Kong at 10:30 p.m. on 4 February and at 11 a.m. on 5 February respectively. In addition, TVB Satellite TV will broadcast the program in different parts of the world including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe at different periods in February.
Parade fills the Northern District with blessings and liveliness on the eighth day of Lunar New Year
There will be another float parade and finale show of cultural performances on the eighth day of Lunar New Year. Featuring 14 floats as well, the float parade will commence with a kick-off ceremony at Rua Norte do Patane at 8 p.m. The floats will march through Avenida do Conselheiro Borja, Estrada do Arco, Estrada da Areia Preta, Avenida de Venceslau de Morais, Rua Quatro do Bairro da Areia Preta, Avenida da Longevidade, Rua do Mercado de Iao Hon until the finishing point at Iao Hon Market Garden, where performers including local singers Hyper Lo, Josie Ho and AJ as well as Hong Kong artist Benjamin Yuen will dazzle the finale show.
Upload snapshots for competition
This year, MGTO and Macao Cultural Heritage Reinventing Studies Association will jointly organize the “Chinese New Year Parade Float Snapshot” Competition. Between 30 January and 7 February, residents and visitors can follow Macao Cultural Heritage Reinventing Studies Association’s account “heritage.mo” on Instagram and then 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 a Certificate of Merit and cash award.
Get dazzled by floats in proximity
14 splendid floats are presented by the following entities: China National Tourism Administration, Macao Government Tourism Office, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Macao Sports Bureau, Galaxy Entertainment Group, MGM, Sands Resorts Cotai Strip Macao, Suncity Group, Sociedade de Jogos de Macao, S.A., Wynn Macau, Limited, Guangdong Chimelong Group Company Limited, Multinational Holdings Group, Melco Crown Entertainment and UO Group.
The splendid floats will be showcased at Sai Van Lake Square from 10 p.m. on 30 January to 5 p.m. on 4 February, and then at Tap Seac Square from 10 p.m. on 4 February until 6 p.m. on 12 February. Local residents and visitors can enjoy the sight of illuminated floats from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. during the aforementioned periods (with adjusted schedules on 30 January, 4 February and 12 February).
MGTO has rolled out a range of promotional campaigns in Macao and different visitor source markets to promote the Parade to residents and visitors, through various publicity channels including the designated partner of water drinks in the Parade, Vitasoy (Macau) Limited.
