Arts community turns out for all-singing, all-tap dancing start to the City Festival

The Fringe Club kicked off the final City Festival before it closes for renovation this summer, with a reception on Thursday night for artists and the local cultural community at its roof bar.

As well as meatballs and samosas, guests were treated to the dulcet tones of Elaine Liu, accompanied by keyboardist Warren Wills (the two perform on February 12 at the Fringe Theatre's For Lovers show), as well as some snappy tap dancing (left) by Ken Kwok and Michael Lin (performing as Bar Tapper on January 22 and 29) on a special wooden floorboard installed for the event.

It was a revelation for most. Who knew there were Hongkongers capable of emulating Fred Astaire?

More significantly, the Fringe Club venue has just been officially classified by the government as a grade 1 heritage building, the highest historical value category.

So, does this new status affect the planned makeover?

'No,' said the club's administrator, Catherine Lau Kam-ling. 'They just made the classification in December. The building still needs to be fixed up, but it might just mean a few more meetings with officials.'