Let’s POP – The First Edition of the Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival

Every era, every region and every city has its unique popular culture.  

Hong Kong’s pop culture, in particular its films, TV and pop music has long been recognised as one of the city’s most distinctive and significant cultural brands, representing Hong Kong’s wit in playing with cultural elements of the East and the West, of the South and the North, of the old and new that formed the very dynamic cultural meeting point of Mainland, Hong Kong and the rest of the world. To promote the city’s unique cultural glamour, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department will present the first-ever annual Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival in collaboration with the industry and arts community.  

The inaugural festival offers a rich array of programmes, from pop concerts to thematic exhibitions, film screenings, outdoor and outreach activities, all showcasing Hong Kong’s unique cultural vibrancy and creativity. The festival aims to lead audiences to appreciate Hong Kong’s pop culture from a new perspective by encouraging cross-generation collaboration and cross-genres productions. Audiences can have a taste of unplugged, jazz, and a cappella versions of Cantopop classics, as well as concerts that feature young singers injecting new elements into pop classics.  

Photo Credit: Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Festival Opening Programmes 

The festival will kick off on 22 April with the programme When Leslie & Anita Meet Hei & Gin at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Grand Theatre. Audiences will be taken on an extraordinary musical journey of Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui’s signature movie songs, re-arranged by the renowned Hong Kong music producer Chiu Tsang-hei and sung by pop diva Gin Lee, before entering the movie world of Who’s the Woman, Who’s the Man (1996). An outdoor Music x Film Marathon set with the scenic view of the famous Victoria Harbour will be staged at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Piazza on 23 April. The marathon is not to be missed by audiences of all ages as singers and bands from the older and younger generation will re-interpret golden classics and even collaborate to bring a refreshing experience. More programmes will follow throughout the year. 

Festival Opening Programmes to be held on 22 & 23 April 2023

Tribute to Pop Icons 

The festival will pay special tribute to Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, two immensely popular stars, with a series of specially curated programmes including a pre-festival Miss You Much Leslie Exhibition event from the end of March to early October at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. It showcases Leslie Cheung’s precious stage costumes, vinyl records, music and film works, awards and personal collections, reviewing his legendary achievements in music and film, as well as his immense influence on pop culture. The Hong Kong Film Archive will also present Revisiting the Glory Days – The Legacy of Leslie and Anita from April to December, featuring 20 films that the two stars starred in from the 1980s to the millennium. Another highlight is the screening of the 4K digitally restored version of Farewell My Concubine (1993) by the Tomson (HK) Film Company Limited which is Leslie Cheung’s representative work which won the highest honour of the Golden Palm Award at the 46th Cannes Film Festival in 1993 and the Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Golden Globe Awards in 1994, at the big screen of Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre. This movie marked the first and only Chinese-language film to win the awards.  

Film screenings of works by two legendries will be presented from April to December 2023.

Pop culture enthusiasts from around the world are most welcome to join us and experience the vibrancy of Hong Kong pop culture. We look forward to collaborating with more organisations from different regions in the future festival, promoting the exchange of popular culture across different regions, and injecting new vitality. For more information about the Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival, please visit the festival’s dedicated website at www.pcf.gov.hk.