The 30^th Macao Arts Festival (MAF), organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), will kick off on 3 May. Since the first day of ticket sales, the 30^th MAF has received an overwhelming response. Tickets for some programmes of the Festival are already limited, and the public is advised to purchase them as soon as possible.

The organizer will also specially launch on its webpage from today until 2 June the prize game “Classic Time Machine”, giving the participants the chance to win amazing prizes. This prize game reviews several classic programmes of the past editions of the Macao Arts Festival. Participants who answer the questions correctly in the designated time will stand a chance to win fabulous prizes in the lucky draw, including round-trip economy class tickets sponsored by Air Macau, body massage and F&B coupons at MGM, and free spending credit sponsored by the Bank of China. For more information, please visit the MAF’s webpage.

This edition of the MAF, themed “a tribute to the classics”, offers a series of diverse programmes as well as great musical works. On 9 May, under the baton of its Music Director, Lu Jia, the Macao Orchestra will join hands with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra to present the concert “An Alpine Symphony”, featuring Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs for Soprano and Orchestra and An Alpine Symphony, which is one of the great symphonic poems in history, depicting the Alpine climbing experience through music. On 21 May, the Macao Chinese Orchestra will present the concert “Chinese Musical Painting”. The Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Macao Chinese Orchestra, Liu Sha, will join hands with principal sheng Jia Lei and principal zhongruan Lin Jie, to present a selection of  melodious musical pieces.

The Festival features an array of equally enthralling theatre productions. The quirkily funny play The Odyssey – A wandering journey based on Homer by Thalia Theatre from Germany, tells the story of two brothers who have the idea of cutting their father’s coffin into pieces. With wild music, dance and original language, the actors make theatre magic in such an imaginative way that loud applause from the audience is guaranteed. Adapted from Lao She’s classic novel, the play Mr. Ma and Son is presented by the renowned Chinese playwright, director and actor Fang Xu, telling a humorous story of cultural collision between a father and a son who live in Beijing and a mother and daughter who live in London. The Patuá theatre play Saving Troubled Daddy takes a witty and heart-warming approach by focussing on the protagonist who looks for her father in Macao. Another local production, Kaléidoscope, presents interconnected life moments on stage through music lighting, space and performers’ breathing rhythms, evoking resonance in the audience. Tickets for some of the programmes are limited, and the public is advised to purchase tickets as soon as possible.

In addition, FAM MOTION, features in the Festival’s  Outreach Programme, pays homage to the classics with three films, including Havana Divas, The Young Girls of Rochefort and The Three Robbers. Due to an overwhelming response, an additional screening of the film Havana Diva, to be held on 12 May, at 21:30. Registration is open from 3 May 9am onwards. Those interested are welcome to register online at www.icm.gov.mo/eform/event. A limited number of seats for the films The Young Girls of Rochefort and The Three Robbers are still available. For more information about the programmes, ticket purchase and discounts, please refer to the 30^th Macao Arts Festival Booklet or download its digital version on the MAF’s official website at www.icm.gov.mo/fam, follow the MAF’s page on Facebook or subscribe to the WeChat account “ICmacao”. Tickets can be purchased through the Macao Ticketing Network by phone at (853) 2855 5555 or online at www.macauticket.com.