Cultural Festival organizers want to extend the event to other cities

The Macau International Youth Creative Artist Association (MIYCAA) and the Hefei 1912 Cultural District jointly organized the Hefei 1921 Macau Cultural Festival, which took place between July 25 and August 10.
Chong Chun Heng, vice-president of MIYCAA, told the Times that over the 17-day period, almost 200,000 Hefei residents visited the Cultural District to take part in the Festival.
Mr Chong observed that, while the mainland provides a huge market, very few non-government organizations in Macau have arranged for this type of event to take place there.
He has subsequently called on local creative organizations to work with MIYCAA and to organize more events on the mainland.
He believes that instead of merely targeting Macau residents and visitors, the cultural and creative industries in the city have to be proactive and seek opportunities in other places.
Moreover, the vice-president believes that events like the Hefei 1912 Macau Cultural Festival will only provide short-term results. MIYCAA hopes to organize the Macau Cultural Festival in more mainland cities, so that it can become a long-term means of promoting Macau’s creative industries on the mainland.
He also believes that, as well as organizing events such as the Macau Cultural Festival, the local cultural creative industries should utilize the Internet and the media to promote their products.
In terms of government support, Chong Chun Heng explained that whilst financial support is helpful, public departments can provide other means of assistance in order to aid in their promotion.
He used the Macau Cultural Festival in Hefei as an example, saying that, whilst senior government officials in Hefei took part in the opening ceremony, MIYCAA failed to invite similarly ranked officials from the Macau government to attend the ceremony. As one of the organizers, he felt that this was something of an embarrassment.
The vice-president revealed that MIYCAA is currently in discussion with authorities in several mainland cities, including Ningbo and Chongqing, about the possibility of organizing a Macau Cultural Festival there.  JPL