Hong Kong Showcases Vibrant Arts at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025

2025-08-22 00:06 Last Updated At：00:18

Hong Kong performers bring East-meets-West creativity to Edinburgh Festival Fringe

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London (London ETO) supported three Hong Kong performance programmes at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025, highlighting the city's vibrant arts scene. The performances featured the One Table Two Chairs Charitable Foundation, zheng musician Wan Xing and a cappella group Yat Po Singers.

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Hong Kong performers bring East-meets-West creativity to Edinburgh Festival Fringe Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

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Hong Kong performers bring East-meets-West creativity to Edinburgh Festival Fringe Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Director-General of the London ETO, Miss Fiona Chau, addressed the audience before two performances staged on August 20 (Edinburgh time). She highlighted Hong Kong's vision of further enhancing its role as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, as supported by the National 14th Five-Year Plan.

"The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is firmly committed to nurturing home-grown talent and expanding global opportunities for our artists. We are investing in world-class arts infrastructure, such as the new 50 000-seat stadium at the Kai Tak Sports Park, and have launched flagship events such as the inaugural Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo in 2024, which gathered leading artists and institutions from around the world," Miss Chau remarked.

Noting the growing connections between Hong Kong and Edinburgh, particularly in the cultural and business sectors, Miss Chau welcomed Edinburgh enterprises to explore the diverse business opportunities that Hong Kong has to offer. She highlighted the introduction of a two-tier liquor duty system in Hong Kong last year as an example of the city's strategy to facilitate business. This initiative has encouraged the trade and auctions of high-end liquor in Hong Kong, thereby giving impetus to the development of other high value-added sectors such as logistics and storage, tourism, as well as high-end food and beverage consumption. These developments open the door for even broader collaboration between Edinburgh and Hong Kong.

Running from August 1 to 25 in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom (UK), the Festival showcased three Hong Kong programmes: "Cantonese Opera x Children's Interactive Theatre: Dic Dic Chang Chang Playground" by One Table Two Chairs Charitable Foundation; "Rock Hard – A Theatrical A Cappella Adventure" by Yat Po Singers; and "Waves of Tradition: A New Horizon in Scottish-Chinese Music" by Wan and two UK musicians, Eleanor Dunsdon and Gregor Black. These performances underscored Hong Kong's vibrant cultural contributions and its role in international cultural exchanges.

Hong Kong Customs Seizes 21.8kg of Dangerous Drugs, Arrests Three Individuals in Recent Operations

Hong Kong Customs detects two dangerous drugs cases and seizes suspected drugs worth about $7.95 million

Hong Kong Customs detected two dangerous drugs cases in Tseung Kwan O and Hong Kong International Airport respectively yesterday (May 21) and today (May 22), and seized a total of about 21.8 kilograms of assorted drugs with a total estimated market value of about $7.95 million. Two men and one woman, aged between 38 and 49, were arrested.

In the first case, Customs officers intercepted a 48-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman in Tseung Kwan O during an anti-narcotics operation yesterday afternoon. About 3.8kg of suspected drugs, including ketamine, methamphetamine, etomidate capsules, psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA and a batch of suspected drug packaging paraphernalia were found in their residence in the same district. They were then arrested.

In the second case, a 38-year-old male passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, today. During customs clearance, Customs officers found about 18kg of suspected ketamine inside his check-in suitcase and 33 sticks of duty-not-paid cigarette inside his carry-on baggage. The man was subsequently arrested.

The arrested man and woman in the first case have been jointly charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug and one count of possession of apparatus fit and intended for the inhalation of a dangerous drug. The case will be brought up at the Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (May 23), while an investigation is ongoing for the second case.

Customs will continue to step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis. The department also reminds members of the public to stay alert and not participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong. They are also reminded not to carry unknown items for other people.

Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, cigarettes are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Hong Kong Showcases Vibrant Arts at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025

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