Gov’t planning more events for New Year, Lunar New Year
More fireworks displays and concerts are being considered for New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and Lunar New Year, the government has revealed.
On October 1, the government organized a fireworks display that lasted 15 minutes. On the sidelines of a recent event, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), said that the government was considering organizing more than just a fireworks display for the Lunar New Year period.
Lunar New Year will fall in January next year.
Senna Fernandes was satisfied with the limited fireworks displays this year (three displays during the Lunar New Year, and a fourth on October 1). She explained the difficulties, saying that Covid-19 control measures had made the delivery of fireworks more difficult than during normal times.
She revealed the October 1 fireworks show attracted 58,000 viewers on the MGTO’s WeChat.
Senna Fernandes hoped that an event which includes more than just fireworks can be held during the Lunar New Year period next year, citing resumptions of group tours and online travel endorsement applications as preferential factors.
Furthermore, the tourism chief cited quarantine as the main reason for not being able to restart the International Fireworks Display Contest this year.
At another event, Leong Wai Man, president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), revealed that the bureau is considering restarting HUSH band show at the Hac-Sa Beach and two shows to countdown to the new year.
The countdown show has been suspended two years in a row due to Covid-19 restrictions.
While discussing the countdown shows, the IC president hoped to present two shows this year on New Year’s Eve and the evening of New Year’s Day. For the time being, the IC cannot disclose if any external entertainers will be performing at the shows.
Moreover, the IC will also host the HUSH band show at Hac-Sa Beach again this November. The beach will be the main venue and ferries will be arranged to transport audiences from Macau to the supporting venue in Coloane, Leong said.
She added that the bureau was also considering hosting flash mob shows in association with local entertainers and artists. Preliminary plans include staging flash mob magic, music and singing shows in popular locations such as the Senado Square and Rua do Cunha.
It was also revealed (on another occasion) that the IC has been developing virtual reality (VR) experiences based on the Ruins of St Paul’s as well as other VR and augmented reality (AR) experiences based on other tourist attractions.
