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Lantern carnivals celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival (with photos)
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     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will present a wide range of activities including lantern carnivals and a lantern display to celebrate the coming Mid-Autumn Festival. Admission to all activities is free. The activities are one of the events under the "Vibrant Hong Kong" theme of the "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign.

     Featuring a variety of entertainment programmes, lantern carnivals will be held at Victoria Park on September 19, at Sha Tin Park on September 20 and at Tuen Mun Park on September 21.

     The highlight of the three lantern carnivals will be spectacular folk songs, dance, instrumental and acrobatic performances by the Sichuan Arts Troupe from the Mainland, supported by the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of the Ministry of Culture. There will also be demonstrations of Sichuan folk craft such as sugar painting and Qiang embroidery by craft masters.

     Supported by the Department of Culture of Guangdong Province, demonstrations of Canton decorative porcelain art and Chaozhou Wheat Straw Patchwork will also be featured.

     The three lantern carnivals will have interactive sessions for members of the public to join the fun of four main categories of Chinese musical instruments - wind, plucked-string, bowed-string and percussion, including pipa, suona, dizi and percussion as well as the "Synergy 24 Drumming Routines" offered by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (HKCO). The HKCO will also introduce the Eco-gaohu, Eco-erhu, Eco-zhonghu, Eco-Gehu and Eco-Bass Gehu developed by the performing group itself, which has won the Ministry of Culture Innovation Award.

     All the carnivals will be decorated with beautiful lanterns. The Victoria Park carnival will showcase several spectacular lantern displays, such as the "Lantern Wonderland" organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. The Hong Kong Heritage Museum has invited local masters to reconstruct an old-style mooncake shop in a bamboo shed with an exquisitely decorated entrance. It's design includes a traditional mechanical puppet stage, offering visitors a chance see this kind of decorative floral board commonly seen in front of mooncake shops to attract customers during the Mid-Autumn Festivals of the 1960s and 1970s. Two Hong Kong-designed and Taiwan-crafted giant lantern sculptures of the God of Fortune will also be on show after being displayed at the 2013 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival. With a sophisticated design with meticulous craftsmanship, these 5-metre tall lanterns present an adorable and vibrant image of the traditional God of Fortune.

     At Sha Tin Park a marvellous 5-metre and 9-metre high Zoumadeng and the glittering lantern series decorate the carnival, while at Tuen Mun Park, the lantern installations will offer visitors a festive celebration of colourful lanterns sharing the joy of "Hong Kong: Our home".

     Details of the carnivals are as follows:

1. Urban Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival
   September 19 (Thursday), 8pm to 11pm
   Victoria Park
   Programme: Spectacular Chinese ethnic dance and
   songs, acrobatics, fire dragon dance parade,
   youth performances, demonstration of Chinese folk
   crafts, lantern quiz and lantern installations
     
2. New Territories East Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival
   September 20 (Friday), 7.30pm to 10.30pm
   Sha Tin Park
   Programme: Spectacular Chinese ethnic dance and
   songs, acrobatics, Chinese orchestral and Gu Zheng
   music, traditional stage art and wushu
   performance, demonstration of Chinese folk
   crafts, lantern quiz, fun workshops, wish-making
   corner and lantern installations

3. New Territories West Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival
   September 21 (Saturday), 7.30pm to 10.30pm
   Tuen Mun Park
   Programme: Spectacular Chinese ethnic dance and
   songs, acrobatics, youth performances, golden
   melodies, Cantonese opera, demonstration of
   Chinese folk crafts, fortune-telling and lantern
   installations

     Conducted in Mandarin, Taiwan lantern craft masters Lee Kuan-i and Lin Yu-cho will present a lecture cum demonstration entitled "Taiwan Lantern Art Encounter" to be held at 3.30pm on September 18 at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum Theatre. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to a programme change, the screening of the documentary film "The Brilliant Life of Bruce Lee" at the Theatre scheduled for 2.30pm and 4.30pm that day will be cancelled.

     There is also a lantern display, "Home Sweet Home", being held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza from now until October 13. The display consists of six interesting sets of lanterns to showcase family fun and harmony.

     People are urged not to litter or burn wax while celebrating the festival.

     For more information about the lantern carnivals, please call 2591 1340 or visit the website:
www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Entertainment/EntertainmentOffice/events_details/13lanterncarnival/index.html.

Ends/Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:00

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