ICH Day @ Hang Hau

The Tin Hau Festival celebrations are held on the 4th lunar month every year at Hang Hau, Sai Kung. The highlight is a thanksgiving Cantonese opera performance (shengongxi) to thank the Goddess of Heaven, organised by Hang Hau Tin Hau Temple Management Committee. A bamboo shed theatre will be built at the Hang Hau Village in Tseung Kwan O. But before the stage opens for performance, a unicorn dance would be conducted in front of the Tin Hau Temple to invite the Goddess to join the procession, which will then go round the village vicinity to bestow blessings of peace and ensure that all goes well. The Tin Hau Festival at Hang Hau of 2017 will be held between 5th and 10th May. The activities will showcase some of the ICH traditions of Hong Kong, such as Cantonese opera, Hakka unicorn dance in Hang Hau, Sai Kung, Tin Hau Festival (or Birthday of the Goddness of Heaven) in Hong Kong, and the bamboo theatre building technique. Among them, Cantonese opera is a world ICH item, while the Hakka unicorn dance is on the national list of ICH.

This ICH event includes talks and demonstrations that are open to the public. Those who attend can join all or part of the activities, through which they can learn more about the intangible cultural heritage of Hong Kong as well as the indigenous culture of the locality.