Jockey Club to stage Riding High Together Festival to cheer for sportsmanship

02/26/2016

To promote the spirit of “Riding High Together”, The Hong Kong Jockey Club will again hold a community festival at Sha Tin Racecourse and Penfold Park during the Easter holidays from 25 to 26 March.  Named the Riding High Together Festival, this public event, suitable for people of all ages, will feature a series of “edutainment” activities.

The Festival follows on the success of the HKJC Community Festival held last year in celebration of the Club’s 130th Anniversary, which brought more than 33,000 people to Sha Tin. In view of this overwhelming response, the Club has decided to make the Festival an annual event. With 2016 being an Olympic year, this year’s Festival is themed “Let’s Cheer for Sportsmanship”. The Club hopes it will help promote the values of sportsmanship, including “giving your personal best”, “striving for excellence”, “persevering against all odds” and “respecting the rules”. 

Speaking at today’s (26 February) preview for the Festival, the Club’s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges explained that the Festival is much more than a weekend leisure event. It aims to encourage people to take inspiration from athletes and adopt the “never give up” spirit of sportsmanship in their everyday lives. “We see our best athletes do this all the time. But there are also many people within our community who show exactly the same qualities of sportsmanship. Community and charity workers, who give up their personal time to help others. The less abled and less advantaged, who have overcome personal life challenges to achieve their potential,” Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said.

Olympic gold medalist in windsurfing Lee Lai-shan, Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair fencing Benny Cheung Wai-leung and Headmistress of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Apprentice Jockeys’ School Amy Chan, who is an Olympic bronze medalist in mixed doubles badminton, also joined the press preview, where they presented their medals for display at the Festival. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Lee Lai-shan’s and Benny Cheung Wai-leung’s victory in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, making the display of their medals particularly timely. Also joining the preview was renowned cross-media artist Simon Ma.

The two-day Riding High Together Festival will feature over 70 activities in ten zones arranged around five themes.  The five themes are Inspirations & Fun, Let’s be Active, Snap & Share, Horse Encounters and Live Performances.

Last year, the Club set a world record at the HKJC Community Festival with the production of the world’s largest-ever fingerprint painting.  Riding on this success, the Club has invited approximately 1,000 primary and secondary students to attempt another world record by creating the world’s longest paper chain of cheering messages to promote sportsmanship.

Another highlight will be the Hong Kong debut of the large-scale art installation “Dancing Water Drops” by renowned cross-media artist Simon Ma. This follows its previous display in cities such as Venice, Milan, Beijing and Shanghai. The installation features artistic renderings of water drops, each with a different colour at its centre and designed to convey a sense of joy, to promote love and care for nature, and to encourage a spirit of sportsmanship.

Manchester United legend Park Ji-Sung will meet the public and play football with children at Sha Tin Racecourse on both days of the Festival. Park, who became a father in late-2015, will give a talk entitled “How to be a successful football parent”. The Festival will also provide plenty of opportunities to get up close and personal with horses.  The international award-winning Hong Kong equestrian athletes will stage show jumping and cross-country demonstrations, while four pairs of horses and riders will perform quadrille shows developed from dressage.  Visitors may also pose for snapshots with Shetland ponies and there will be pony rides for children.  Please refer to the separate factsheet for details of the activities. 

Tickets for the Riding High Together Festival will go on sale on 29 February on the event website 203.215.253.53/rht on a first-come-first-served basis.  Each ticket costs HK$60, and includes one admission ticket (worth HK$10) and five game tickets (worth HK$50 in total).  Children at or under the age of three can enjoy free admission.

As there will be equine shows and other horse activities during the Festival, for reasons of public safety, dogs will not be allowed to enter Penfold Park during the Festival. 

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 2014/15, its donations reached a record HK$3.87 billion, and in the last decade alone it supported over 1,300 projects. The Club is also Hong Kong’s largest single taxpayer, contributing a record HK$20.05 billion in 2014/15. 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 24,000 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.