Poster of the Parade
The Macao Government Tourism Office will present the “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Dog” on the 3rd day (18 February) and 9th day (24 February) of Lunar New Year to celebrate the joyful occasion with residents and visitors. The event features a range of spectacular activities such as the float parade, large-scale performances, fireworks display, float exhibition and mobile phone game. MGTO will make continuous efforts to augment the scale and impact of local events and festivals, not only to attract visitors from a diversity of source markets but also to encourage enthusiastic participation among residents.
The “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Dog” is organized by MGTO and co-organized by Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Sports Bureau and Cultural Affairs Bureau, as well as supported by China National Tourism Administration as one of the sponsoring entities. A press conference for the event was held at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Center today (31 January). MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Deputy Director Cheng Wai Tong, Head of Department of Civic Affairs and Consultation of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Patsy Ko Pui San, Head of Sports Facilities Management Department of Sports Bureau, Ho Wa, and Acting Head of the Department of Performing Arts Development of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Iu Wai Man, were present in the press conference along with representatives of the supporting and sponsoring entities.
A New Year full of blessings
2018 is the Year of the Dog. Wong Choi, meaning prosperity in Chinese, was a common name given to pet dogs by their masters. The Parade will revolve around a story in which a kennel of dogs known as Wong Choi has gathered blessings in the past twelve years and all kinds of delicious cuisines, to lay before local residents and visitors like a splendid banquet, delivering blessings and wishes for a fruitful, vigorous and prosperous year. Souvenirs will be distributed along the routes on both days to add the joyful and festive vibes.
In her speech, Director Senna Fernandes remarked that MGTO has been striving to weave different innovative elements into a variety of tourism products, not only to enrich visitors’ experience and attract visitations from a wider range of source markets, but also to build up Macao’s image as an international tourist city. Entering the sixth year, the event has become one of Macao’s signature festivities with the aim to present fascinating celebrations that blend a diversity of cultural gems for local residents and visitors from around the world. Learning from the experience over the last five years, the organizer is making a special effort to optimize both hardware and software facilities, and steadily enhance the level of enjoyment among spectators. With the route direction switched on the 3rd day of Lunar New Year, the seating capacity went up to over 2,300 such that a greater number of residents and visitors can be accommodated on the site. Awnings will be raised above all sets of spectator stands, so that spectators can enjoy the Parade without being influenced by weather conditions.
New direction of Parade route on 3rd Day of Lunar New Year – invites new possibilities in the New Year
On the 3rd day of Lunar New Year, there will be a float parade, procession of performance groups, stage performances and fireworks display. Compared to the previous year’s arrangement, the starting point and finishing point of the Parade are switched this time. A launch ceremony will kick off the Parade at Sai Van Lake Square in front of Macau Tower at 8 p.m. 15 dazzling floats will proceed together, joined by over 1,000 performers forming a total of 25 local performance groups and 9 external performance groups from 8 countries and regions. Performers will be divided into two groups, one of which will stay and perform on stage at Sai Van Lake Square, while the other group will set off with the floats from Sai Van Lake Square, march along Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-Sen on Macao Peninsula until the destination at Macao Science Center, to spend a joyful evening with spectators.
Spectator seats will be set up at Sai Van Lake Square (“The Golden Lunar Feast”), along Rua da Torre de Macau (“Family Reunion”), the square in front of Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre (“Good Great Fortune”) and the roundabout in front of Macao Science Center (“Lucky Stars”).
Hong Kong celebrity host Kitty Yuen, hip hop group Fama, local singers Germano Guilherme, Stephen Chan, Rico Leng and Chan U Ian will be the emcees of the night. Hong Kong and Macao singers including Jason Chan, Fama, Mag Lam, Vivian Chan and Germano Guilherme will give their fantastic performances, followed by a fireworks display at 9:45 p.m, ready to liven up the city with a festive ambience.
For the convenience of locals and visitors, MGTO will operate free shuttle bus service around five routes between event locations 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 set up at different locations for more people to enjoy the whole Parade.
TDM will produce and broadcast a pre-event TV program to promote the Parade. In addition, TDM and Macao Cable TV will live broadcast the Parade on the 3rd day of Lunar New Year and record the Parade on the 9th day of Lunar New Year for subsequent broadcast; a feature TV program about the Parade on the 3rd day of Lunar New Year will also be broadcast on TVB Jade Channel and TVB Finance & Information channel in Hong Kong at 10:30 p.m. on 24 February and 1:30 p.m. on 25 February respectively. Following that, TVB Satellite TV will broadcast the respective 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.
Lively celebrations in Northern District on the 9th day of Lunar New Year
There will be another float parade and finale show of cultural performances on the 9th day of Lunar New Year (24 February). The float parade will commence with a kick-off ceremony at Rua Norte do Patane at 8 p.m. 15 floats will march along 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 Hong Kong artist Nancy Sit and local singers Sean Pang, Viviana Lo, Kane Ao Ieong, Elvis Lam and Roberto Madan will dazzle the finale show, with Kitty Yuen, Germano Guilherme and Stephen Chan being the emcees of the night.
Play WeChat game for chances to win attractive prizes
By scanning the QR code on WeChat, residents and visitors can play the game for chances to win attractive prizes. The more times they share the game, the more times they can play the game with higher chances to win the prizes. For details, please visit MGTO's WeChat ID (“MGTOweixin”).
Floats with abundant blessings
15 splendid floats are presented by the following entities: China National Tourism Administration, Macao Government Tourism Office, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Cultural Affairs Bureau, Sports Bureau, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Suncity Group, Sands Resorts Macao, MGM, Wynn Macau, Limited, Tak Chun Group, UO Group, Sociedade de Jogos de Macao, S.A., Multinational (Holdings) Group and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited.
The splendid floats will be showcased at the seafront of Macao Science Center from 18 February (10 p.m.) to 24 February (5 p.m.), and following that, on display at Tap Seac Square from 24 February (10 p.m.) until 4 March (6 p.m.). Local residents and visitors can enjoy the sight of illuminated floats from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. during the aforementioned periods (time schedule will be adjusted on 18 February, 24 February and 4 March because of the Parade).
