MACAO, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The 19th A-Ma Cultural and Tourism Festival will take place in China's Macao Special Administrative Region from Oct. 12 to 15, organizers said Monday.
More than 1,000 guests from home and abroad, including representatives from China's Taiwan region, are expected to attend, said Chan Meng Kam, chairman of the organizing committee.
Visitors will be presented with a myriad of activities, including a ceremony honoring Mazu, a Chinese sea goddess, a seminar on the contemporary significance of Mazu culture and an event promoting cultural and tourism cooperation between east China's Fujian Province and Macao, organizers added.
Arts troupes from Fujian will perform at the festival. Craft exhibitions and demonstrations of traditional skills are also planned, along with activities connecting producers with buyers.
To mark the 160th anniversary of Sun Yat-sen's birth, Taiwan guests will also visit the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and Sun's former residence in Zhongshan.
Mazu belief and customs were inscribed on the United Nations' Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) list of intangible cultural heritages in 2009.
The festival is organized by the Goddess A-Ma Foundation of Macau and sponsored by the Macao Foundation. ■
