The “19th A-Ma Cultural and Tourism Festival” will take place from October 12 to 15, featuring a series of thematic forums, cultural presentations, and tourism promotion events, Macau A-Ma Cultural and Tourism Festival Organising Committee Chairman Chan Meng Kam announced at a press conference yesterday.
The press conference for the four-day event was held at the China Dragon Hotel in the Central D.
Highlighting the vision of the festival, Chan noted that this year’s event has invited over 1,000 national and foreign guests, including representatives from various sectors in China’s Taiwan region, adding that the four-day programme will include a thematic seminar, a Fujian-Macau culture and tourism promotion meeting, an opening ceremony coupled with an A-Ma* pilgrimage, a themed gala, and a traditional blessing tour featuring a statue of A-Ma.
Chan said that three major artistic troupes – the Fujian Song and Dance Theatre, the Fujian Symphony Orchestra, and the Fujian Acrobatics Troupe – will perform “Melodies of Fujian” in Macau to showcase regional folk customs and the profound cultural heritage of A-Ma through blending dance, music, and acrobatics.
Furthermore, the Fujian Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology will feature exquisite works by national- and provincial-level master artisans, alongside live interactive demonstrations of intangible cultural heritage skills and a dedicated business matching platform, Chan added.
Festival schedule
Fellow Organising Committee Executive Chairperson Ngan Iek Peng outlined the festival schedule and itinerary: on October 13, an official opening ceremony and the A-Ma pilgrimage will be hosted at the Macau A-Ma Cultural Village in Coloane at 10:00 a.m. At 3:00 p.m., the statue of A-Ma from the Macau Tin Hau Temple in Coloane will embark on a grand parade commencing at the Fai Chi Kei waterfront and culminating in Areia Preta Park, allowing residents and devotees to pay their respects and offer prayers. Later that evening at 8:00 p.m., a special intangible cultural heritage Nanyin music** performance will be staged in Areia Preta Park.
The parade will feature over 30 performance troupes totalling more than 3,000 participants, notably including the Yingge Dance Troupe from the Xilu Tin Hau Temple in Shantou.
* The A-Ma folk belief centers on the worship of a historical woman named Lin Moniang (also known as Mazu or Tin Hau), who lived in Fujian during the 10th century. Originally revered as a protector of fishermen and seafarers, she was later deified and became one of the most influential deities in coastal China and beyond. – DeepSeek
** Nanyin music (南音 – “southern music”) is an ancient musical genre from Quanzhou, Fujian, widely recognised as a “living fossil” of traditional Chinese music. Played on classical instruments like the pipa and dongxiao (a traditional Chinese vertical end-blown flute made of bamboo), this UNESCO-listed art form preserves court melodies and poetic folk traditions dating back to the Han and Tang dynasties. - Gemini
Macau A-Ma Cultural and Tourism Festival Organising Committee Chairman Chan Meng Kam (third from left), Fellow Organising Committee Executive Chairperson Ngan Iek Peng (third from right) and other representatives pose during yesterday’s press conference for the “19thA-Ma Cultural and Tourism Festival” at the China Dragon Hotel. – Photo: Ida Cheong
