Tsing Yi Bamboo Theatre is an annual traditional Cantonese festival held at Tsing Yi Athletic Association Soccer Pitch in Hong Kong. The large-scale event took place last week on April 12 to 14, with a temporary bamboo theatre built to celebrate the birthday of Zhen Jun and Tin Hau.
Every year, the neighbourhood celebrates the birthdays of two Chinese deities – the sea goddess Tin Hau and the historical monarch Chun Kwan by erecting the famous temporary theater. Fascinating Chinese opera performances will be hosted in addition to a gourmet market where visitors can enjoy an array of authentic Hong Kong street food.
In response to the government’s “Day and Night Vibes @18 Districts” campaign, this grand event incorporates pop culture elements this year to attract youngsters from within and outside the neighbourhood. On 13th April, dance battles and graffiti performances were organized. At night, local rapper groups and rock bands were invited to host 2 free concerts on Saturday and Sunday nights, attracting over 1600 musicholics to the island this weekend.
“I have never been to a concert at a bamboo theatre. The fusion of hiphop culture and traditional festive elements leads me to rethink about Hong Kong. While people criticize Hong Kong as neglecting cultural development, this music festival proves that Hong Kong is still an awesome place where east meets west with an exquisite pop culture.” Jeff Li, a 23-year-old student living in Wanchai, visited Tsing Yi for the first time because of the music festival.
Rapper group M4 Gang expressed their gratitude towards the concert, saying it was one of the most honorable and memorable experience to perform at the bamboo theatre.
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Living in Tsing Yi for over 30 years, housewife Dora Liang also expressed her enjoyment at the festival. Tracing back to the Zhun Jun and Tin Hau Festivals in Tsing Yi in previous years, visitors were mainly attracted by the hawker food stalls next to the temporary bamboo theatre. However, not many visitors would step into the theatre and enjoy the Chinese opera. This year, instead of only performing traditional opera, hiphop dance and music performances were provided. Liang recognized that more people, even herself, were more eager to get into the theatre to enjoy the show while also appreciating the spectacular scaffolding technique. As an islander, she is gratified to witness Tsing Yi becoming more vibrant and the crowd cherishing its delicate culture.
While the festival received many compliments, the concert on Sunday night was called off earlier due to over 200 noise complaints from Tsing Yi residents, causing famous rapper JB to cancel his performance which was originally happening at 9pm. Concert organizer ChillDon apologized for the sound mul-arrangement and time management of the show on Instagram. Despite islanders’ whine on Facebook forums, netizens all around Hong Kong still showed empathy and support to ChillDon, hoping for the collaboration with relevant parties next year.
Reported by: Coey Fung
Edited by: Jimin Park and Micol Stano