Hong Kong arts festival seeks more funding for future growth

Hong Kong will host its largest contingent yet from Russia's Bolshoi opera and ballet and a string of artistic big names in its 2015 edition, but organisers hope to do more - if the government will increase funding.

Tisa Ho, the Hong Kong Arts Festival's executive director, said the festival society was in discussion with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) on the next five-year funding plan. She hopes government funding will be increased by 20 per cent, to about HK$40 million a year, to cover half of the festival's expenditures.

The government's HK$33 million funding last year accounted for some 30 per cent of last year's total festival budget, while 40 per cent came from the box office and the remainder from other sources, including donations.

The festival's budget stayed at around HK$100 million a year from 2010/11 to 2014/15. Ho said the level of funding had been eroded by inflation over the years and the festival could only do less if that stayed level.

In addition to bringing more top acts to Hong Kong, the city could help groom artistic talents by investing in more local productions and taking them abroad. "We hope the funders look at this as an investment in Hong Kong," Ho said.

However, Damian Cheng, a director of the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong) has doubts. "Will a 20 per cent increase in government funding buy an artistic vision or a 20 per cent [increase at the] box office?" he asked.