Photos | Summer arts festival International Arts Carnival tickets on sale from May 16

Hong Kong

2025.05.15 21:30

The International Arts Carnival will run from July to August this year, featuring a wide array of fun-filled educational programmes including "Home", an interactive multimedia theatre by Mime Wave from the Netherlands. (Hans Boddeke)

The International Arts Carnival (IAC) will run from July to August this year, featuring a wide array of fun-filled educational programmes by overseas, Mainland, and local art groups for all age groups to add to a joyful summer. Tickets will be on sale from tomorrow (May 16). The carnival is a highly popular arts festival organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) every summer.

This year, participating overseas artists will come from the Netherlands, Korea, Norway, and the United States. Together with their Mainland and local counterparts, they are set to present a wide variety of performing arts programmes covering martial arts, acrobatics, dance, music, theatre, multimedia, and more.

The opening programme will be the martial arts theatre performance "Soul of Shaolin" featuring elite performers of the Henan Provincial Shaolin Wushu Center from July 11 to 13. The performance will showcase breathtaking martial arts scenes such as boxing, weapons, and qigong to demonstrate the harmony between the spiritual wisdom and physical strength of Chinese kung fu. "Soul of Shaolin" is finally coming to Hong Kong after its Broadway debut in 2009, which earned both Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. After more than two decades of world touring, it is not to be missed.

Celebrated violinist Ray Chen will join Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda and members of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America to perform on July 28. During the concert, Chen will perform Mendelssohn's ever-popular "Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64" with the orchestra. The repertoire will also include Rachmaninov's masterful "Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27" and a new work by contemporary music composer Carlos Simon. This performance will also be part of the orchestra's Asian tour.

To celebrate the upcoming 15th National Games, the IAC will present "Sounds of Sports" on August 2 and 3. Led by pianist Phoebus Chan, the performance will blend music and sports as local musicians and athletes will combine karate, rugby, wushu, and table tennis with jazz drums, shakuhachi, erhu, cello, and piano, turning the concert hall into an exciting sports ground full of energy.

The award-winning Xi'an Acrobatic Troupe will perform a new adaptation of the acrobatic ballet "Swan Lake" from August 8 to 10, fusing incredible acrobatics with ballet, turning this famous dance performance into a powerful yet graceful show. The show features over 20 dazzling acrobatic acts, including contortionists bending and twisting, doing flips and balancing, aerial hoops, and dancing on shoulders. "Swan Lake" and "Soul of Shaolin" are also programmes that are part of this year’s Chinese Culture Festival.

In addition to stage performances, there will also be a fine selection of films from around the world under the Summer Family Cine Fest by the Film Programmes Office. The IAC also offers a wide range of parent-child workshops, an online programme, an outreach performance, and an exhibition. Venue partners and LCSD libraries will also hold plenty of related activities and programmes during the festival period.

Tickets for the IAC will be available at URBTIX from May 16 onwards. For telephone bookings, please call 3166 1288 or use the mobile ticketing app "URBTIX". For enquiries on programmes and ticketing, please call 2370 1044 or visit its website at www.hkiac.gov.hk.