The Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF), launched in 1973, is a major international arts festival committed to enriching the life of the city by presenting about 150 performances and over 250 PLUS and educational events in February and March every year.

HKAF is a non-profit organisation, with about 30% of annual revenue from government funding, around 40% from the box office, and the remaining 30% from sponsorships and donations from corporations, individuals, and charitable foundations.

HKAF presents top international artists and ensembles, such as Bartoli, Carreras, Yo-Yo Ma, Glass, Masur, Chailly, Baryshnikov, Guillem, Spacey, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theatre and Valery Gergiev, Bavarian State Opera, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Zingaro, Royal Shakespeare Company, Moscow Art Theatre, and the People’s Art Theatre of Beijing.

HKAF actively promotes Hong Kong’s own creative talents and emerging artists, and commissions, produces and publishes new works in theatre, chamber opera and contemporary dance, many with successful subsequent runs in Hong Kong and overseas.

HKAF invests in arts education for young people. In the past 23 years, our Young Friends has reached about 700,000 secondary and tertiary school students in Hong Kong. Donations to the Student Ticket Scheme make available close to 9,000 half-price student tickets each year.

HKAF organises over 100 Festival PLUS activities in community locations each year to enhance the engagement between artists and audiences. These include lecture demonstrations, masterclasses, workshops, symposia, backstage visits, exhibitions, meet-the-artist sessions, and guided tours.