To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the inscription of the “Historic Centre of Macao” on the World Heritage List, the Cultural Affairs Bureau holds a series of activities in July, 2020. The event features a total of 28 activities in six series, including a thematic festival, the World Heritage Open Day, the Heritage City Tours–guided tours and illustration workshop, fun sharing cultural heritage lectures, a story-writing competition, and a WeChat game. With this special series of activities, the Cultural Affairs Bureau seeks to celebrate the anniversary with the public and encourage residents to experience the beauty of Macau’s World Heritage in their daily lives and to appreciate the city’s precious cultural treasures, thereby conveying the concept of “appreciating our world heritage together”.
Thematic Festival
On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the inscription of the Historic Centre of Macao on the World Heritage List, a thematic festival will be held at the “World Heritage Youth Education Base”, located in the Mandarin’s House, on July 11 and 12. The festival features a rich variety of special activities, such as game booths, family workshops, thematic exhibitions, sale of cultural and creative products, a lucky draw, as well as various enthralling performances and special photography spots, celebrating the 15th anniversary with the public. During the activity period, free buses are available from Iao Hon Municipal Market and Taipa Central Park to the Mandarin’s House and those interested may also take public transport to the site of the venue.
Unique Experience on World Heritage Open Day
On “World Heritage Open Day”, five activities of public visits are held at several world heritage sites that are rarely open to the public. Activities include tea time at Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, panoramic view of the Ruins of St. Paul’s, treasure hunting in the Mandarin’s House, secret magic circle of the Senado library, and ascent to Guia Lighthouse. This allows the public to appreciate the Historic Centre of Macao from different perspectives and to enjoy a unique experience at the world heritage sites, such as enjoying a Portuguese-style tea set at Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, overlooking the Ruins of St. Paul’s from the roof terrace of the Colégio (college) Mateus Ricci, joining a treasure hunt game on the second and third floors of the Mandarin’s House–which are rarely open to the public–visiting the inner hall and upper floor gallery of the Senado Library, and climbing to the top of Guia Lighthouse to enjoy an impressive view of Macau.
Heritage City Tours to Capture the Beauty of the Historic Centre
The Heritage City Tours – Guided Tours and Illustration Workshop features five elaborate itineraries. The city tours are led by professional guides, who will take participants to explore different world heritage buildings and tell the story of each building along the way. The activity also features illustrators teaching the technique of creating a travel diary, so that participants can capture the wonderful moments of their tours and record everything in their unique travel diaries. The activity features two routes designed for families.
The series of activities also includes a story-writing competition called Memorable Moments of World Heritage. Fun Sharing Cultural Heritage lectures in schools and districts, the “World Heritage Modeling Workshop”, and a WeChat Game–I am a Cultural Heritage Expert are some of the other events happening to celebrate these 15 years.
When: July 1–31, 2020
Where: Ruins of St. Paul’s, Mount Fortress, Lilau Square, Mandarin’s House, Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, St. Augustine’s Church, Dom Pedro V Theatre, St. Lawrence’s Church, Camões Garden, Casa Garden, Leal Senado Building, Guia Lighthouse, and other sites
How much: Free admission
Registration is needed for some of the activities, which you can do here
For more information, call +853 8590 4382, +853 8590 4329 or check the event’s official website
