Organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), the “2019 Macao International Parade”, celebrating the 20^th Anniversary of Macao’s handover to China, was held on Sunday, 8 December. The participating groups gathered at the Sai Van Lake Square in the evening for the Handover Celebration, a feast of “Love, Peace and Cultural Integration”, where local and foreign performing groups jointly presented lively and cheerful performances. The closing ceremony was officiated by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government, Alexis Tam Chon Weng. With spectacular fireworks lighting up Macao’s skyline, the audience responded enthusiastically, celebrating the 20^th anniversary of Macao’s Handover to China.

This year’s Parade kicked off with the opening ceremony at the Ruins of St. Paul’s, where the Parade’s mascot VIVA received the mission to collect cultural information from the countries and regions along the initiative “One Belt, One Road”, embarking on a journey across six continents. VIVA experienced the local customs and characteristics of different places on its way, and finally collected the priceless cultural and artistic information from the respective countries and regions, which was turned into a huge force of “Love, Peace and Cultural Integration”, bringing it to the Sai Van Lake Square. The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government, Alexis Tam Chon Weng, activated the device in the closing ceremony, spreading the cultural essence of the respective countries and regions to every corner of the city, celebrating the handover together.

In the closing performance, local and foreign performing groups jointly presented different kinds of dance and percussion performances, allowing the public to enjoy the rich artistic performances with local characteristics, as if they were travelling over different regions of the world. Percussion and dance performances were held at the venue, and the audience responded enthusiastically, jointly celebrating the 20^th anniversary of Macao’s Handover to China.

This year, the Parade showcased the cultural and artistic characteristics of countries and regions along the initiative “One Belt, One Road, highlighting the wonderful cultural integration, promoting the Parade as an exchange platform for culture and arts.