About Chinese Culture Festival

Embracing both Chinese and Western cultures, Hong Kong is deeply rooted in Chinese culture while widely connected with the international community, and is entrusted with the important mission of promoting Chinese culture to the world. The Chinese Culture Promotion Office (CCPO) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has been actively planning an array of programmes, community activities and collaborations, with a view to promoting the inheritance and innovation of Chinese culture and history.

In 2024, CCPO first launched the Chinese Culture Festival (CCF), covering both traditional and innovative art forms, performances and activities to cater to the tastes of all types of audiences. CCF aims to foster cultural inheritance internally, and promote Chinese culture to the outside world through a “holistic approach with community participation and cross-sectoral collaboration” that echoes the strategic directions of the Blueprint for Arts and Culture and Creative Industries Development. The inaugural CCF attracted 900 000 participants with its well-acclaimed programmes. Audiences generally found that CCF had facilitated them to better understand Chinese culture, strengthening their pride and sense of identity of being Chinese. The tailored programme, “Chinese Culture for All: A Special Performance Series”, was especially well received by schools and attracted more than 7 000 participants, enriching their knowledge of Chinese culture.

Leveraging the success of the inaugural edition, CCPO will establish CCF as a prominent cultural brand of Hong Kong, allowing locals and visitors to appreciate the profound traditional cultural treasures of our motherland, and providing tourists with a more in-depth travel experience that will attract them to visit again. The second edition of CCF this year will open with the dance drama Dongpo: Life in Poems, an exemplar of innovative development of traditional culture through a rich multidisciplinary audio-visual presentation that integrates contemporary dance with music, poetry and painting. Other exciting offerings include selected works of different genres of Chinese opera from the Chinese Opera Festival 2025, exemplary local arts projects recognised by the China National Arts Fund, hand-picked performances and precious exhibits from this year’s City in Focus – Xi’an, showcases of intangible cultural heritage, and stage performances co-curated with many arts and cultural organisations. A new programme series on Tea Culture, which presents the Chinese tea ceremony with original music, adds a creative touch to CCF this year and allows attendees to experience the creative transformation across cultural genres.

I invite you to join the programmes of the CCF to explore, experience and appreciate the profound and magnificent Chinese culture.

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 Cultural 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 Cultural 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 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