About Chinese Culture Festival

Hong Kong is deeply rooted in the profound Chinese culture, at the same time enjoys the unique advantage of being a melting pot of Chinese and Western cultures with strong global connections. With the support of our country we are committed to giving full play to Hong Kong’s role as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, showcasing our country’s fine traditions to the world in a rich diversity of ways, and extending the reach of Chinese culture, contributing to our country’s development as a “cultural power” as indicated in the 15th Five-Year Plan.

The Chinese Culture Festival (CCF) is Hong Kong’s flagship cultural brand. It preserves and promotes Chinese culture with innovative ideas and in contemporary language, enabling citizens and visitors of all ages and backgrounds to experience the timeless charm and contemporary vitality of Chinese cultural traditions. The CCF has garnered enthusiastic responses from all sectors of the society, and achieved encouraging results with the first two editions each attracting over 900 000 participants and showing a growing size of younger audiences.

Themed “Legends”, this year’s CCF features a fine selection of programmes and activities based on Chinese legends and stories. Some of the programmes focus on the cultures of the Sui and Tang Dynasties in Chinese history as well as the City in Focus – Luoyang, and re-interpret beloved folk tales through a contemporary lens. The CCF will open with the dance drama Lady White Snake with internationally renowned ballet dancer Tan Yuanyuan as the Artistic Director. Featuring top-tier dancers from the Mainland, this production blends Chinese and Western dance styles and bridges ancient and modern philosophies to re-imagine the well-known Chinese legend of mortal and immortal love from a new perspective.

Other highlights of this year’s CCF include a series of captivating performances on the theme of “Loyalty and Righteousness” under the Chinese Opera Festival 2026; the Chinese-style suspense drama The Code of the Dynasty, adapted from a bestselling novel; the acrobatic drama Acrobatic Spectacle of Ancient Tang, which re-creates the cultural splendour of the Tang Dynasty; a guqin recital by Yao Gongbai, among the first batch of representative inheritors of the art of guqin, an Intangible Cultural Heritage at the national-level; outstanding local works recognised by the China National Arts Fund; and excellent stage performances presented by various cultural organisations. We will organise such activities as the “Chinese Culture for All: A Special Performance Series”, “Encountering Chinese Culture” Performing Arts Carnival, and exhibitions to make Chinese arts and culture an integral part of the local community, thereby achieving our goal of cultural promotion using a “holistic approach with community participation and cross-sectoral collaboration”.

I invite you to join the CCF to journey through millennia of legends, and savour the enduring and ever-renewing charm of Chinese culture together.

Miss Rosanna Law, JP
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism

As an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, Hong Kong not only excels in the integration of diverse cultures from around the globe, but also demonstrates the profoundness and wealth of Chinese arts and culture.

The Chinese Culture Promotion Office under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) launched the annual Chinese Culture Festival (CCF) in 2024 to promote Chinese culture and enhance the public’s national identity and cultural confidence.  It also aims to attract top-notch artists and arts groups from both the Mainland and other parts of the world for exchanges in Chinese arts and culture.  The logo of the Chinese Culture Festival has been designed on the basis of the lattice of the traditional Chinse window to symbolise Hong Kong’s role as a ‘cultural window’ showcasing the charm of traditional Chinese culture to the world.  The jadestone embedded in the logo represents the Festival’s wonderful lineup of programmes, which are all artistic gems of Chinese culture.

The Festival brings a rich and colourful array of programmes, including finely selected Chinese operas from the LCSD’s signature programme ‘Chinese Opera Festival’ and outstanding local works recognised by the China National Arts Fund.  Various local arts and cultural organisations will join hands to contribute a variety of first-rate programmes for the Festival, including music, dance, multi-arts, theatre, Chinese Opera, films, exhibitions, etc.  Various activities including carnivals, lectures, artist talks and master classes will be organised to promote Chinese culture in the community and integrate it into daily life.

In forging the Chinese Culture Festival, we have engaged in efforts by collaborating and interacting with outstanding arts groups from different provinces and cities of the Mainland, and also expanding outreach and collaboration with community, business sector and various organisations.  We have focused on encouraging people from all walks of life and different sectors to take part in the various events of the Festival.  Additionally, in partnership with the Education Bureau, various promotional and extension activities in the Festival to foster an awareness of Chinese arts and culture in schools were implemented.  We hope the Festival would promote exchanges between different regions and cultural sectors and encourage their integration, and show everyone the beauty of the magnificent world of Chinese arts and culture.

Vision
Chinese culture, with its long history, vast scope and profound depth, is characterised by its perpetuity, diversity and inclusiveness. It has shaped the values and way of life we all share. We aspire to make use of a diverse array of exhibitions, activities, exchanges, collaborations and promotions to enable young people and the public at large to appreciate the essence of Chinese culture and enhance their sense of national identity and cultural confidence, thereby promoting patriotism and ensuring its continuity from generation to generation.

Mission
Increase social awareness of, and interest in, Chinese culture and history across all sectors.
Foster patriotic education and cultivate a sense of patriotism.
Promote Chinese culture through a diversified range of programmes.
Collaborate with various stakeholders to jointly promote Chinese culture.
Enhance the public’s sense of national identity and cultural confidence.

Values
National identity
Unity in diversity
Harmony in differences
Collaborative integration
Transmission of heritage
Professionalism and dedication
Progress with the times

Note from the composer

Writing theme music for different cultures and across different genres is one of the most challenging tasks throughout my entire creative career.  While basic compositions may be easier, creating an overall spirit which encompasses and translates an imaginative atmospheric picture into a music piece is overtly challenging according to my experience.

Upon receiving the mammoth task to develop a theme music for the Chinese Culture Festival (CCF) from scratch, I immediately kicked off my research by browsing through available programme images of the CCF in the previous year.  The next step was to evolve a simple concept of what the CCF was about.  Very often, the images automatically translate into music in my head.

Added to this, the colour texture and visual dynamics of CCF are also very crucial.  They served as catalysts for me to add in variations and moods that often determine whether a composed melody was appealing or not.

Irrespective of which kind of music I am working on, I always try to imagine what kind of people will be listening to the music.  In this case, it would mainly be Chinese audience, plus foreign visitors attending the Festival.  As such, I have purposely moulded the piece to add on East-West crossover quality.

It is a great privilege to be commissioned to write the theme music for the Chinese Culture Festival and I wish with all my heart that the coming CCF will be a great success.

Chris Babida
Composer, Arranger and Producer of
Chinese Culture Festival Theme Music