The Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo, one of the city’s flagship cultural events, will play a “dual-platform role” — sparking global arts and cultural exchanges while facilitating brokered creative deals — organizers said on Thursday.
Building on its successful debut in 2024, this year’s expo — scheduled from Oct 9 to 13 — aims to cater to both professional audiences and strengthen public and tourist engagement citywide, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council said at a news conference.
Public-oriented shows will include free performances along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront from Oct 6, acting as the expo’s prelude, alongside expanded public slots for curated programs following its official launch.
Fifteen signature programs will feature artists and troupes from 14 countries and regions worldwide. They were selected from over 800 applications from more than 80 countries and regions, a significant increase from the 600-plus applications received in 2024.
A new “Hong Kong Session” will spotlight works by 10 local independent artists and small- to medium-sized artistic groups.
Early-bird tickets for the expo’s open and main programs are on sale until July 17.
The expo is expected to make a “strong return” as the performing arts sphere is experiencing an “unprecedented, positive transformation”, said HKADC Chairman Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, who is also the legislator representing the cultural and performing arts sector.
Fok highlighted the market’s growing room for profitability, and increased interest among young people. This year’s expo has sharpened its focus on driving cultural industrialization, marketization, and the integration of culture and tourism, he added.
“We hope the expo will facilitate more performing arts imports and exports”, Fok said, calling it a bid to first “put us — Hong Kong and the expo — on the map” of the global performing arts marketplaces.
While acknowledging that Hong Kong is relatively new to the performing arts scene compared with more seasoned competitors like South Korea, Fok expressed optimism about the city’s promising future. The city has been navigating its way forward and has received positive feedback from the industry, he said.
Fok told China Daily that arts and cultural growth is expected to be a key component of the city’s upcoming inaugural five-year plan. He said he hopes the plan will boost the cultural industry and encourage greater public participation.
A better-developed arts scene in Hong Kong, he added, will depend on creating more business opportunities, providing global audiences with local intellectual property and works, and rethinking how to train professionals — including both practitioners and cultural sector managers — with an international mindset.
The expo brand is among the flagship cultural initiatives highlighted in Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s 2025 Policy Address as a way to consolidate the city’s role as an East-meets-West center for international cultural exchanges.
The inaugural expo, held in Oct 2024, attracted more than 1,600 arts leaders and practitioners from 60 countries and regions, with a total attendance of over 32,000.
Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com