Jockey Club to stage large-scale Community Festival during Easter for free to share the 130th Anniversary joy and spirit of Riding High Together

03/09/2015

In celebration of its 130th Anniversary, The Hong Kong Jockey Club will hold the HKJC Community Festival in Sha Tin Racecourse and Penfold Park during the Easter holidays from 3-5 April.  Entry to this large-scale Community Festival is free. As well as celebrating the Club’s anniversary joy with the public, the Festival aims to help promote harmonious family relationships, to instill the concepts of healthy and green living, and to unleash the potential of local youth. It will include a number of performances, a series of fun family activities and two World Record attempts, giving families and friends, young and old, a good time during the holiday period.

Speaking at the press preview for the Festival, the Club’s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges noted the Festival would offer an array of performances and events for people of all ages. “While the Festival is all about having fun, we also want to make it educational in a soft manner,” he said.  “Through participating in activities, people will be able to explore their potential and appreciate more about life in the community.” To share its anniversary joy with the public, the Club has organised a variety of celebratory events drawing a very good response. To name a few, over 820,000 visitors have visited the 130th anniversary website, while the online anniversary games have attracted over 900,000 submissions. Starting from tomorrow, the Club will be hosting banquets for elderly people drawn from the 18 districts in Hong Kong. And at the end of this month, it will be bringing the Club-sponsored world-class equestrian show CAVALIA to the city to entertain some 100,000 spectators.

The three-day HKJC Community Festival will feature a series of  activities in nine activity zones arranged around six key themes: Inspiration and Fun, World Records on Show, Let’s be Active, Live Performances, Horse Encounters and Delicacies & Collectibles. 

A number of interactive “edutainment” booths will be set up to encourage friends and family members to join hands in innovative games.  Through the games, they will be able to learn about the Club’s community contributions, environmentally-friendly living and ways to build a harmonious family. Also featured will be various DIY workshops, with Festival goers encouraged to unleash their creativity and talent.

Embracing the Club’s pioneering spirit of “dare to try and innovate”, two World Record attempts will be staged in the World Records on Show zone.  One of these – a 130 metre-long huge horse painting – will be made by 1,000 primary and secondary students under the guidance of renowned artist Simon Ma.

The second record attempt will be the display of 10,000 papier mache eco-horse sculptures in Sha Tin Racecourse. Inspired by the “Galloping Horse” painting by famous Chinese artist Xu Beihong, the sculptures have been made from recycled paper under the Club’s Charities Trust-sponsored “‘Ten Thousand Galloping Horses, United With One Heart’ Installation Art and Education Project” organised by The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups in collaboration with Xu Beihong Art Committee. Also featured will be eight six-feet tall horse sculptures. The project involved over 10,000 young people, local artists and community leaders to showcase the vitality of heroic galloping horses.  Both the painting and horse sculptures will seek a listing in the World Records.   The visitors will also have the chance to admire original masterworks created by Master Xu as well as other large-scale horse animations produced by local students and cross-media artists.

In the Let’s be Active zone, a football skills assessment platform will be set up in collaboration with international football club Manchester United for local teenagers born in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The most outstanding 32 will be invited to short-term football clinic, four of whom will be selected to go to the training base of Manchester United this summer to train with Manchester United’s young players.  Manchester United legend, Denis Irwin will meet and play with the public at the Festival in the first two days (3 & 4 April). Meanwhile, the health-conscious can learn more about their physical condition through comprehensive fitness assessments, featuring fun methods to test their flexibility, explosiveness, handgrip strength, speed and balance. Participants will receive the assessment results, benchmarked against data collected through the 3-day Community Festival and local athletes, via email.

In order to further promote equestrian and sports development in Hong Kong, the Horse Encounters zone will feature show jumping and eventing demonstrations by the medal-winning HKJC Equestrian Team. Four horses will also give an “equestrian quadrille performance”, which is similar to dressage, and which will be performed with delightful background music.  The performance will be the first of its kind in Hong Kong. Also horse care and grooming demonstrations will be staged and children will have the opportunity to ride on ponies and take photos with the Club’s Shetland Ponies.

Internationally renowned theatrical production CAVALIA will have special performance during the Festival.  Other performers in the Festival will include popular bands Mr. and Robynn & Kendy, who will sing the Club’s 130th Anniversary celebration song “Progressing Together”. The event will also provide plenty of dining and shopping opportunities with a diverse range of delicacies from the Club’s clubhouses and collectible HKJC 130th Anniversary souvenirs.

The public can enjoy free admission to the Festival by registering on the HKJC 130th Anniversary website www.130.hkjc.com starting from noon, 9 March 2015. Upon successful registration, Festival goers can collect their free tickets at 40 designated off-course betting branches across the territory starting from 19 March. The $60 food & beverage coupon, which is valid during the Festival, will also be sold at a special price of $40 at the branches, upon showing an admission ticket to the Community Festival.  One coupon can be purchased per ticket.  Both the admission ticket and food & beverage coupon are available while stocks last. The Limited Edition 130th Anniversary Medal , will be given to Festival participants who completed a special scavenger hunt across all zones or bearer of the food and beverage coupon, while stocks last.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club 
Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class horse racing operator and Hong Kong’s largest community benefactor, as well as one of Asia’s most prestigious membership clubs. Operating as a not-for-profit organisation, the Club allocates its surplus funds for charitable and community projects. In 2013/14, its donations reached a record $3.6 billion, and in the last decade alone it supported over 1,275 projects. The Club is also Hong Kong’s largest single taxpayer, contributing a record HK$19.58 billion in 2013/14. With about 70% of its revenue given back to society every year through donations and tax contributions, The Hong Kong Jockey Club delivers a significantly higher return to the community than any other racing and/or sports betting organisation in the world. As a socially responsible organisation, the Club helps Government combat illegal betting and advocates responsible gambling. The Club is also one of Hong Kong’s largest employers with over 24,800 full-time and part-time staff. Committed to global excellence and giving back to society, the Club is always “riding high together for a better future” with the people of Hong Kong. Please visit 130.hkjc.com.