Local families are in for an eggs-tra special treat this Easter holiday as The Hong Kong Jockey Club once again stages its annual flagship community event, the Riding High Together Festival, at Sha Tin Racecourse and Penfold Park. Over the past three years, more than 105,000 local residents have enjoyed spending their Easter holiday at the Festival. This year's event, running from Good Friday, 30 March, to Easter Sunday, 1 April, is sure to be as exciting as ever.
Through this event, the Club aims to engage with the Hong Kong community at large, educate and inspire local residents, instil them with a positive “can-do” spirit, promote continuous development and foster cross-generational harmony.
Carrying the theme “Let’s Progress Hand in Hand”, the Festival will feature over 70 ‘edutainment’ activities and games spread across 10 different zones to suit visitors all ages, from the youngest to oldest members of the family. Among its many attractions will be pony rides and opportunities to meet horses at close hand; an attempt to break the world record for figurine painting; youth football competitions; DIY and art workshops; Easter-themed and sensory games; a lunch for the elderly; and live performances. These multi-dimensional activities, arranged around five sub-themes of Inspiration & Fun, Let’s be Active, Horse Encounters, Snap & Share, and Live Performances, are designed to encourage visitors of all ages to explore their imagination and expand their creative horizons.
Setting New Standards
An annual highlight of this event is an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for Hong Kong. In the past three Festivals, records were set for “The World’s Largest Fingerprint Painting”, “The Longest Paper Chain of Cheering Messages” and “The Largest Sculpting Lesson” with 3,000 Hong Kong people. This year's opening day, Friday 30 March, will see up to 1,000 participants from NGOs, primary and secondary schools join forces in an effort to set the record for “Most People Painting Figurines” under the guidance of renowned local artist and children’s book illustrator Ken Tang.
Promoting Continuous Development
For the first time, the festival will feature outdoor Mobile Classrooms, which break from the traditional educational framework by covering diverse topics that inspire participants to think from multiple perspectives. Parents and their children are welcome to interact with the instructors to make learning a joyful experience. There will be different themed classes every day, each lasting around 40 minutes.
The “DIY Together” zone offers a range of workshops at which children aged 15 or below can harness their creativity in making crafts themed around Easter, the arts and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). They will encourage collaboration between parents and their children and enhance children’s problem-solving abilities. Meanwhile game booths in the “Riding High Together Exhibition” zone are designed to test the skills, cognitive powers and tenacity of participants of all ages by tackling challenges and obstacles together. Here you can also learn more about The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s many contributions to the community over the years.
Horse Encounters
Penfold Park will function as an equestrian centre during the Festival, enabling the visitors to get up close and personal with horses. The ever-popular “Horse Encounters” zone will feature local equestrian riders demonstrating their show jumping, dressage and cross-country skills. Visitors can also see grooming and horse care demonstrations, enjoy pony rides and pose for photos with the Club’s adorable Shetland ponies.
Exciting football activities
In the “Pursuit of a Football Dream” zone, special guest star, Manchester United legend Bryan Robson, will make an appearance and interact with the festival-goers. Participants can learn football skills with coaches from the Manchester United Soccer Schools.
Fostering Harmony
Games in the “Family Love and Care” zone are specially designed for family members to play together and enjoy the precious chance of family interaction, while those in the new “Multi-Sensory Discovery” zone will bring children and families some magical experiences to treasure. There is also a brand new “Easter Fun” zone featuring special festive games that are a real test of participants’ agility.
Supporting Live Entertainment
Festival-goers can enjoy the powerful drumming sounds of Taiko and heart-warming a cappella performances by the Yat Po Singers, one of the artistic groups from the Jockey Club New Arts Power programme. There will also be opportunities for visitors to try emulating their skills in jamming sessions.
Please refer to the separate fact sheet or visit 203.215.253.53/rht for full details.
Tickets
Tickets costing HK$60 each (including five game coupons) will be available online through Ticketflap starting from 10:00 am on Thursday, 1 March on a first come, first served basis, limited to six per applicant. Children aged 3 or above must have a ticket to enter the festival. Children under three, accompanied by a ticket-holding adult, are admitted free. Early booking is strongly advised.
As equine shows and other horse activities will be taking place, 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 racing club that acts continuously for the betterment of our society. The Club has a unique integrated business model, comprising racing and racecourse entertainment, a membership club, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charities and community contribution. Through this model, the Club generates economic and social value for the community and supports the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2016/17, the Club’s total direct return to the community was HK$30.5 billion. It is Hong Kong's largest single taxpayer, one of the city’s major employers and one of the world's top ten charity donors. The Club is always "riding high together for a better future" with the people of Hong Kong.
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The Hong Kong Jockey Club's Riding High Together Festival is themed under "Let's Progress Hand in Hand" this year, with an aim to promote continuous development and a positive "can-do" spirit.
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Photo 2, 3, 4:
The Club has been supporting the development of the equestrian sports over the years. The Festival provides visitors a rare opportunity for a close encounter with horses including equestrian demonstrations.
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The Festival features outdoor Mobile Classrooms for the first time, bringing new learning experience to festival-goers.
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Photo 6, 7:
Families can enjoy festive games in the brand new "Easter Fun" zone.
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Games in the "Multi-Sensory Discovery" zone bring children and families magical experiences.
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Manchester United legend Bryan Robson makes an appearance and enjoy football fun with the festival-goers.
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