In this March 25, 2022 photo, two women pose for a selfie on the promenade next to Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. (PHOTO / AFP)

HONG KONG – The first Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival will kick off in April to showcase the city’s cultural characteristics, creativity and charisma, as well as the preservation of its pop culture, the government said on Wednesday.

Organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the annual festival, which will run through November, aims to introduce new horizons in appreciating the uniqueness of Hong Kong pop culture, accoridng to a government news release.

The programs will take audiences to revisit from different facets the masterpieces of the superstars in the 1980s and 1990s

About 20 programs have been confirmed so far, including seven performing arts programs, four thematic film screenings, four thematic exhibitions and a series of outdoor and outreach activities. 

The programs will take audiences to revisit from different facets the masterpieces of the superstars in the 1980s and 1990s, the golden age of Hong Kong pop culture.

Moreover, the programming of the festival has incorporated elements popular among young people, such as concerts of all-time pop favorites re-rendered unplugged, in jazz, a cappella or other styles, to demonstrate the continuation of cultural flow, preservation, breakthrough and development.

One of the pre-festival programs, Miss You Much Leslie Exhibition, will be presented from March 29 to Oct 9 at the Heritage Museum to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passing of Leslie Cheung.

The program, When Leslie & Anita Meet Hei & Gin to be held at the Cultural Centre on April 22 will officially kick off the Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival.

Renowned music producer Chiu Tsang-hei selected and rearranged four theme songs from films of Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui. Such songs, accompanied by excerpts of movies, will be performed by popular singer Gin Lee.

The performance will be followed by a screening of Who’s the Woman, Who’s the Man co-starred by the two superstars.

On April 23, the Outdoor Music x Film Marathon will be held at the Cultural Centre Piazza. The first part of the program, a pop concert, will feature singers and bands across different generations.

The second part named Film Songs Singing Along will put on screen songs selected from 20 movies starring Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, and young singers will lead participating audiences to sing together, demonstrating the legacy of Hong Kong pop culture.

Indicated in the 2022 Policy Address, the current-term government is committed to fostering Hong Kong’s cultural development to expedite the city’s progression into an East-meets-West center for international cultural exchange.