The “Galaxy Entertainment Group Presents: Luso-Chinese Music Arts Festival Macau-Zhuhai-Hengqin 2026” was announced by the integrated resort operator (GEG) in a press conference at the Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre in Sai Van yesterday, highlighting the festival’s cross-city cultural vision through music, competitions and heritage activities spanning Macau, Zhuhai and Hengqin.
Hengqin is a part of Xiangzhou, Zhuhai’s largest district. The Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin is a part of the prefecture-level city of Zhuhai.
The festival will run from Saturday through June 8 at venues including Galaxy Macau and Zhuhai Art College.
According to a statement by GEG yesterday, the festival is co-organised by the Macao Association for Cultural Exchange and Friendship between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, MMAS (Macao Music and Arts Space) and Zhuhai Art College, with local veteran musician Casimiro Wong Wai-lam serving as the music director.
The opening concert, titled “Sonic Alliance: Musical Battle”, is slated to start this Saturday at Galaxy Macau in Cotai, the statement said, adding that the concert is inspired by martial arts duels and contemporary street dance battles. The concert will feature young musicians from the Greater Bay Area (GBA), which comprises nine cities in Guangdong and the nation’s two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, combining Chinese and Western instruments, diverse vocal styles and artistic creativity in a live competition format judged by the audience.
Meanwhile, three major competitions will also headline the programme – The Tuna Macanese Singing Championship 2026, the 2nd Macao International Orchestral and Chamber Music Competition, and the GBA China-Chic Music Tournament.
Beyond performances and competitions, the festival will host a range of cultural workshops and heritage activities including a guqin exhibition which will feature rare agarwood guqin as well as Ming and Qing dynasty instruments, and a guqin workshop where participants, according to the statement, can learn basic techniques and try playing classic passages from “The Laughing in the Vast Sea” and “Flowing Water”.
A guqin is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument.
According to the statement, additional activities include a music marathon at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Lou Kau Mansion at 7 Travessa da Sé, a Brazilian bossa nova concert as well as a Macanese music and culture campus tour in Hengqin.
Customarily, the term “Macanese” refers to Macau’s community of mixed Portuguese and Asian descent, and its diaspora.
According to the organisers, the festival aims to promote cultural exchange and artistic collaboration across the GBA by combining Chinese and Portuguese musical traditions through performances, workshops and immersive experiences.
Local musician Casimiro de Jesus Pinto, aka Wong Wai-lam, a retired senior civil servant, addresses yesterday’s “Galaxy Entertainment Group Presents: Luso-Chinese Music Arts Festival Macau-Zhuhai-Hengqin 2026” press conference at the Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre in Sai Van yesterday. – Photo: Khalel Vallo
