20,000 expected at Lusofonia Festival

This year’s Lusofonia Festival will take place from October 21 to 23 with a smaller budget. However, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), which has taken over the event organization from the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), expects that the party will be just as lively as those in previous years.
Held at the Taipa Houses-Museum and Carmo Area in Taipa, the festival will feature folk arts and culinary booths from ten Portuguese-speaking countries.
Ieong Chi Kin, chief of the IC’s Cultural Activities Department, said at a press conference yesterday that the event’s budget was downsized to MOP3 million, MOP300,000 less than in 2015.
The budget is MOP2.25 million for the shows, booths and other arrangements, and MOP750,000 for posters at the event sites.
The 19th Portuguese Speaking Communities Cultural Festival will present a series of music concerts, sports competitions, stage performances, and gastronomy, among many other cultural and recreational activities.
The typical cultural decorations and booths, organized and hosted by members of ten different Portuguese-speaking communities, will also be present; showcasing the cultural attractions of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Goa, Daman and Diu, East Timor, Macau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
For the first time in the history of the event, local musical groups will perform at the Carmo Square every night at 7:30 p.m., so the public can enjoy light music in a relaxed environment while tasting Portuguese-inspired delicacies.
The performers are Macau Artists, Francois & Rita, Fabrizio Croce, Fado & Portuguese Popular Music Group, 100% Band, and 80 & Tal Band.
The performances will kick off on Friday at the Carmo amphitheater with Don Kikas from Angola, Knananuk Timor from East Timor, and Latin Connection from Goa, Daman and Diu.
Saturday’s show will feature the HMB from Portugal, Os Tubarões from Cape Verde, and Os Garimpeiros from Mozambique.
For the final evening, Margareth Menezes from Brazil, Tino Trimo from Guinea-Bissau, and Tonecas Prazeres from Sao Tome and Principe will take to the stage.
When questioned by the journalists, Mr Ieong mentioned that the IC expects the number of visitors to be around 20,000, similar to the last edition.
He added that the cultural authority is already planning the outline of the next edition of the festival, which will mark the 20th anniversary of the event. He said that the IC might arrange a photo exhibition featuring snapshots of past festivals.
The festival will run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.  JZ