The 14^th Macao Arts Festival will be held from 1^st to 28^th March 2003. It is sponsored by the Cultural Institute of Macao S.A.R Government and co-sponsored by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau.

This year’s festival will run for seven days longer than previously, with a total of 36 performances. The 14 programmes from China, Hong Kong, Macao and abroad, combined with an exciting week of film and video cycles and two major art exhibitions will provide something to suit every taste across a huge range of artistic genres: ballet, Kun opera, acrobatics, multimedia shows, music, puppetry, contemporary drama, Cantonese opera, comedy and traditional Gypsy dancing. Festival venues extend across the city from Dr. Sun Yat Sen Municipal Park in the northern section of the city to Senado Square in central Macao, from the Cultural Centre to the Ruins of St. Paul’s.

In a move to take culture out onto the streets, this year’s Festival programme includes an Arts and Crafts Fair scheduled for the first weekend in March (1^st and 2^nd March). Two points in the city –Senado Square and Dr. Sun Yat Sen Municipal Park—will be livened up from 10 am to 10 pm with demonstrations of traditional Chinese handicrafts, paper-cutting, leaf-carving, clay modelling and many other kinds of crafts, plus a host of outside performances from abroad. Artists include folk dancing from Mexico and Portugal, clowns from Canada and magic fire dances from the United States. There will be displays of different arts typical of Macao, as well as plays, singing and dancing, comic dialogues and highlights from Cantonese operas. The Arts and Crafts Fair is guaranteed to delight both residents and tourists, giving them an opportunity to meet artists and performers as first hand.

The 2003 Macao Arts Festival is dedicated to “expanding Chinese culture, showcasing top quality art and promoting Macao’s artistic development”.