The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) announced Monday that the 29th Macau International Firework Display Contest will take place in September as well as on National Day, with this annual event coming back following its cancellation last year after Macau had been devastated by deadly Super Typhoon Hato.
Addressing a press conference about the event, MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes noted that the annual firework contest was cancelled for the first time last year since its launch nearly three decades ago. She said that the government was grateful to the city’s tourism-related sectors for showing understanding for the government’s decision to cancel the pyrotechnic contest last year.
The annual Macau International Firework Display Contest was first launched in 1989 when Macau was still under Portuguese administration. Since then, the annual contest had never been cancelled, except last year when the government decided to cancel it for the government to focus on post-typhoon relief and recovery tasks.
After Hato pummelled Macau on August 23 last year which left 10 dead and 244 injured and caused financial losses officially estimated at 12.5 billion patacas, the government cancelled a string of government-organised events – including the Macau International Firework Display Contest – after Hato until National Day on October 1, so that all its resources could be used for post-typhoon relief and recovery work.
During the press conference, Senna Fernandes said that the 29th Macau International Firework Display Contest will be held on be held on September 1, 8, 15, 24 as well as October 1.
According to Senna Fernandes, the budget for this year’s firework display contest is 21 million patacas, less than the 24.5 million patacas for last year’s one – which was cancelled.
The firework display contest will comprise companies from the mainland and nine foreign countries, namely Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Portugal, according to Senna Fernandes.
