Guangdong's Foshan City, well known as the town of Cantonese opera, is dwelling in an atmosphere of opera culture as the 2004 Qionghua Cantonese Opera Festival kicks off in Guangdong Cantonese Opera Museum, Chancheng District of the city on Aug. 28.

Opening ceremony of the festival

The activity, aiming to promote the cultural development of the province and opera culture in the city, will last until Sep. 23, releases the source.

A grand parade is held around the city in Chancheng District, Nanhai District, Shunde District, Sanshui District and Gaoming District starting from Aug. 23 through Aug. 26 to lift the curtain of the event.

Tens of famous artists gather in Guangdong Cantonese Opera Museum here to hold a ceremony for the festival.

During the festival, some 50 Cantonese Opera plays will be put on stage, with the famous artists from South China's Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, Macao and overseas taking the leading roles, including 13 winners of the "Plum Blossom" Award and the "Wen Hua" Award, the highest award in the nation's literature field.

Fifteen famous artists respectively specializing in 11 kinds of operas in the nation will perform at the closing ceremony on Sep. 23rd, including artists of Guangdong operas such as Chaozhou Opera, Leizhou Opera and Cantonese Opera, and other operas in the country like Peking Opera, Huangmei Opera, Hebei Bangzi Opera, Ping Opera, Yue Opera, Yu Opera, Chuan Opera, Hui Opera, etc.

Editor: Catherine