The 42nd Hong Kong Arts Festival takes place 18 February - 22 March 2014. The extensive programme features opera, music, theatre and dance, with performers from the Netherlands, France, Russia, Italy, Korea, Scotland, England, Germany, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, alongside Cantonese Opera and the National Theatre of China. One of the premiere events this year is the Dance Opera Iphigenia in Tauris by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Commemorating the 300th anniversary of the composer’s birth, it comes to Hong Kong as an exclusive large-scale, special event, performing nowhere else in Asia. Launched in 1973, the Hong Kong Arts Festival is a major annual Festival in the region and one of Asia's premier cultural events. Each year the Festival offers a broad spectrum of programmes, ranging from classical fare to cutting-edge productions. In 2013, the Festival presented over 1,500 artists in some140 performances and another 200 PLUS events, including 13 world premieres and 17 Asian premieres.