Amid coronavirus emergency, a fight to save Hong Kong Arts Festival, with venues closed and less than two weeks to go
- With nearly 1,800 artists due to give 120-plus performances, but concert halls and theatres closed indefinitely, festival organisers face an uphill battle
- Some events could be rescheduled, some cancelled, one venue manager says. Coronavirus emergency has also badly hit groups such as HK Phil and Hong Kong Ballet
With less than two weeks to go until Hong Kong’s biggest annual arts event is due to begin, organisers face a race against time to ensure as much of its programme as possible goes ahead amid the coronavirus emergency.
Still, the health and safety of audiences, artists and staff was its top priority, Ho said.
The month-long festival, which is in its 48th year, features more than 120 performances of some 50 dance, music, theatre and operatic programmes. Last year’s festival drew a combined audience of nearly 90,000 people.
Performance venues due to host most of the festival events have been closed indefinitely to avoid large gatherings of people, as part of emergency measures announced by the Hong Kong government, and on Thursday the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a global public health emergency. The outbreak has killed more than 200 people and infected thousands, mostly in China.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department, responsible for public performance venues, did not respond to Post questions about when it would review the decision to close them.
Passionate theatregoer Wyatt Wong Tang-fung, who has bought tickets to nearly 30 shows at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, is among those waiting on news about festival events.
“[The outbreak] is not something under the organiser or artists’ control,” said Wong. “There is nothing they can do if the Leisure and Cultural Services Department cannot confirm when the venues will reopen.”
Wong hopes some of the performances can be rescheduled.
There is nothing they can do if the Leisure and Cultural Services Department cannot confirm when the venues will reopen
The Hong Kong Arts Festival said it was “monitoring the current situation closely and is in touch with relevant venues, artists and authorities”.
The Tai Kwun cultural centre in Central, which will host two weeks of immersive artistic experiences as part of the festival, has closed its main indoor venues and exhibitions temporarily.
“Where possible, programmes will be rescheduled to a later date, but in some cases they may have to be cancelled altogether,” Tai Kwun said in a statement.
Ho said: “It would be very sad to cancel [the arts festival]. “We have worked all year – several years, in some instances – to programme the festival.”
The four cities the orchestra had planned to perform in – Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei – have all confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus.
“All of us at the Boston Symphony Orchestra are incredibly sad to have to cancel our tour to East Asia,” said its music director, Andris Nelsons.
More than 50 performances due to be held in February at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, another venue provider for the Hong Kong Arts Festival, have also been called off.
Meanwhile Hong Kong Ballet has cancelled 10 shows because the venue it uses at the West Kowloon Cultural District has been shut. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund, it said.
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, which had planned a dozen events in February, said it is communicating closely with arts venues, including the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Tsuen Wan Town Hall, and with its partners to determine whether the concerts can be performed as scheduled. It will update ticket holders via its website and Facebook page and try its best to reschedule any cancelled concerts.
Privately run arts venues have also suspended activities.
Organisers of the India By The Bay festival have postponed the six-day event to April. Para Site, an independent contemporary art centre in Quarry Bay, is closed until February 4, although a programme on February 1 will be held as scheduled.
The Asia Society’s Hong Kong centre in Admiralty said it would postpone or cancel events such as workshops and panel discussions on a case-by- case basis if speakers or organisers requested it.
