Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Since its inauguration in 1989, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre has established itself as Hong Kong's premier performing arts venue, attracting leading artists from around the world. It has three main performing venues: Concert Hall, with a seating capacity of 2 019, Grand Theatre, seating capacity of 1 734, and Studio Theatre which seats 303 to 496 people. In 2006, a total of 831 000 people attended 866 performances in these venues.

Hong Kong City Hall

The Hong Kong City Hall, the first cultural venue of its kind built in Hong Kong in 1962, commands a special place in Hong Kong's cultural development. It is a major multi-purpose complex comprising the Concert Hall, Theatre, Recital Hall, Exhibition Hall and Exhibition Gallery. A total of 724 events were held there during the year, attracting 436 000 people.

Regional and District Civic Centres

The LCSD runs 11 regional and district civic centres: the Sheung Wan Civic Centre and Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre on Hong Kong Island; the Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre and Ko Shan Theatre in Kowloon; and the Sha Tin Town Hall, Tsuen Wan Town Hall, Tuen Mun Town Hall, Kwai Tsing Theatre, Yuen Long Theatre, North District Town Hall and Tai Po Civic Centre in the New Territories.

In 2006, the Programme Partnership Scheme was relaunched at Yuen Long Theatre, Tuen Mun Town Hall, North District Town Hall, Tsuen Wan Town Hall, Sheung Wan Civic Centre and Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre. Under this scheme, facilities and resources were provided to selected arts groups to organise audience-building programmes and create new works.

Indoor Stadia

The Hong Kong Coliseum and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium are two of the largest multi-purpose indoor stadia in Hong Kong. The 12 500-seat coliseum is a leading venue for pop concerts, musicals, entertainment spectaculars, international sporting events, cultural programmes and large-scale celebrations. The 3 600-seat stadium is suitable for holding sports events, cultural and entertainment performances, school ceremonies, conferences and variety shows.

During the year, 159 performances were staged in the coliseum and 289 in the stadium attracting over 2 006 400 people.

West Kowloon Cultural District

In October 2005, the Government introduced additional development parameters and conditions, based on public views gauged at the consultation exercise, for the three screened-in proponents in respect of their proposals to develop the 40-hectare prime waterfront site of the West Kowloon Reclamation into an integrated arts, culture, commercial and entertainment district.

As all three proponents did not give a positive response by February 2006, the Government subsequently decided to take the plan forward under a new development approach. The Government established in April 2006 the Consultative Committee on the Core Arts and Cultural Facilities of the West Kowloon Cultural District and its three advisory groups to re-examine, with a view to re-confirming as appropriate the need for the core arts and cultural facilities and other types of arts and cultural facilities to be provided at the West Kowloon Cultural District and the financial implications for developing and operating these facilities. The consultative committee has made substantial headway in its study and it is expected to submit its report to the Government around mid-2007.

URBTIX

URBTIX (Urban Ticketing System) commenced operation in 1984 and has become the most popular computerised ticketing system in Hong Kong. The LCSD launched a brand new and advanced system in October 2006 which enables the public to buy tickets of cultural and entertainment events at any of the 33 outlets as well as through its Internet and telephone ticketing services. During the year, over $620 million was paid through URBTIX for some 4.14 million tickets for 7 440 performances.