The Lusofonia Festival, celebrating the Portuguese-speaking countries and Macao’s rich heritage, returns in October. This year, it features a line-up dedicated to promoting cultural diversity mostly made up of local artists, due to travel restrictions related to COVID-19.
The 2020 Lusofonia Festival will be held at the Taipa Houses promenade from 16 to 18 October. The event runs from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on 16 October, from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. on 17 October, and from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. on 18 October.
Featured at the festival are musical and dance performances, and games suitable for all ages. The event will also be brimming with food and beverage temptations. Festivalgoers can taste the cuisines from across a wide selection from the Portuguese-speaking countries.
Local groups representing various Portuguese-speaking communities in Macao – namely with links respectively to either Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Goa, Daman and Diu, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Principe, East Timor, or Macao itself – will have booths at the festival.
The first Lusofonia Festival was held in 1998. The annual event has since become a showcase of the performance by Macao of its function as a place for cultural exchanges between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.
The organiser of the festival is the Macao SAR Government Cultural Affairs Bureau. The event is co-organised by the Macao Government Tourism Office and the Macao SAR Government Municipal Affairs Bureau.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau will strictly follow the guidelines from the health authorities for the festival, for countering the spread of the COVID-19 virus.