Gov’t aims for Macau to host a large-scale concert by end of this year

Macau is keen to host, by the end of this year, a large-scale musical concert for an audience of around 50,000 people, said Chief Executive (CE) Ho Iat Seng.

Ho’s announcement came in response to an inquiry by lawmaker Ella Lei at the Legislative Assembly (AL), where he took part yesterday in the question and answer session with lawmakers on topics related to this year’s policy address and other social matters.

According to the CE, the government is keen to fulfil this goal before the year’s end and is currently focused on finding the right venue to host the event.

“Taipa [island] satisfies conditions for a 50,000-person event, but after the concert that we held at the stadium [in late January this year], which caused many problems regarding noise, we have now ruled out the Taipa Stadium [Olympic Sports Center]. It is not suitable for concerts. But we are not giving up. We are determined. In Hong Kong, there is an indoor facility that holds 50,000 people. We do not have that in Macau, but we are not going to stop,” the CE said, noting that the larger outdoor event used for concerts in Macau to date has been the Sai Van Lake Square, in front of the Macau Tower. The square is only suitable for some 10,000 people, Ho contends.

Ho said that, currently, Macau has some great indoor venues, namely within the gaming concessionaires, but that these can only take up to 16,000 people.

Jockey Club to be a multipurpose venue

In the inquiry, lawmaker Lei suggested the use of the Macau Jockey Club (MJC) venue to host large-scale events.

In response, the CE said: “regarding the MJC, we already have the land in our possession, and have had since April 1. We are now considering it for shows, but we are still to decide if it will be [the government] developing it, or if we will hand it to private enterprises to explore. We need to have a long-term plan for it.”

The CE noted that the decision to use the MJC for concerts and other shows was not as simple and immediate as some thought. There are, he said, many factors to take into consideration when revamping the space.

“We know the area of the land, but what about parking spaces? What is the size of the parking area we need and have to build for this place to be suitable for this kind of event?” he rhetorically questioned. “Maybe we need the support of a renowned company to develop these resources, although we don’t have this kind of company here,” he said, hinting that the management or development of the MJC space should be handed to an entity from outside Macau.

In response to a question from Lei about what the venue will eventully be used for, Ho said only, “I can’t tell you yet exactly what will be done there, but we will use it as a multipurpose venue. Not for housing, that is for sure. We will create there a stage for the development of these activities [related to the bid of Macau as a City of Shows and Sports].”

Two large events

per month this

year is the goal

In response to a different question on a similar topic, this time from lawmaker Chan Chak Mo, the CE added that currently under consideration is the creation of a whole new industry in Macau, which is a project that should be not abandoned.

He noted that, in 2023 and with the support from the six gaming concessionaires, Macau hosted a total of 17 large-scale sports events, a figure that will be raised this year to a total of 24.

“This year, we will have two large-scale sporting events each month. That is 24 for the whole year. These are big sports events with complex organization requirements; not small football matches. This makes our goals more difficult, but we will achieve them.” RM