Some 1,350 performers dressed in colourful costumes and with big smiles on their faces livened up the city through a medley of dance, music and stunts in the Macau International Parade as the temperature dropped to a Siberian 12 degrees Celsius Sunday.
Organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) to mark the 18th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), the parade, formerly known as “Parade through Macau, Latin City” has been renamed “Macau International Parade”.
According to an IC statement, the name change aims to underline Macau’s “move towards internationalisation, demonstrating the unique charm of Macau”.
The parade, billed as a feast of “Love, Peace and Cultural Integration”, kicked off at the Ruins of St Paul’s with performers dancing, playing music and showing off their stunts as they passed through the busy Largo do Senado, on to Nam Van Lake before ending in Sai Van Lake Square where each of the 64 participating groups, including 15 from overseas, got their moment in the spotlight as they performed on the big stage under a laser light show.
Although the temperature was just 12 degrees Celsius, and some performers were only wearing cropped tops and shorts as part of their costumes, they said they didn’t feel the cold because they got their “hot” energy from the cheering crowds. Most spectators were dressed in thick jackets and woolly hats.
IC Acting President leong Chi Kin told the media in Sai Van Lake Square that the crowd gathered along the parade route amounted to about 150,000.
Leong also said that the budget for this year’s parade was about 16 million patacas, one million patacas more than last year. He said that most of the money was spent on sponsoring overseas groups and installations for the event.
