The 36th Hong Kong Arts Festival opens Thursday with a performance of Swan Lake by the world- renowned Stuttgart Ballet.

The Festival will be held from Feb. 14 to March 16. According to organizer of the event, Hong Kong Arts Festival Society Ltd, over 90,000 performance tickets have been sold as of Thursday, accounting for over 90 percent of all seats.

The Festival this year will present over 100 performances and events of 31 performing groups from Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and all around the world, including New York Philharmonic's three concerts, the Teatro Regio di Parma's debut of Giuseppe Verdi's monumental opera Rigoletto in Hong Kong, London Philharmonic Orchestra's two concerts, Grammy-awarded jazz legend Ornette Coleman's performance, American Repertory Theater's Asian debut of Orpheus X and other world-class performances.

The opening of the Festival was officiated by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive Donald Tsang, Hong Kong Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-shing, Director of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department Thomas Chow and Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society Charles Lee and some other guests.

As an annual international cultural event, the Hong Kong Arts Festival provides a focus for the best of international performing arts and serves as a showcase for the best contemporary and traditional performing arts from China.
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(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2008)