On 17 January, the Macao Government Tourism Office launched the 2018 Macao Year of Gastronomy. The line-up of activities and celebrations will feature a programme of local and international initiatives designed to raise awareness of Macao’s unique culinary credentials and strengthen its reputation as a gastronomic hub.
These will include the development of new culinary walking tour routes, culinary experiences and gastronomy-themed activities and promotions. The Macao Government Tourism Office launched a new gastronomy-focused website in 2017, as an inspiring source of information about Macao’s rich and diverse food scene and unique culture.
Taipa Village welcomes new retail and dining offerings
Taipa Village, one of Macao’s most traditional and atmospheric areas, has recently welcomed a number of new restaurants and boutique shops, increasing its already extensive dining and retail portfolio.
Recently-opened eateries adding flavour to Taipa Village include the contemporary Italian restaurant Bella Taipa, which has its very own rooftop terrace overlooking the village, and La Famiglia, an exquisite Portuguese-Italian restaurant with a friendly, family-run atmosphere. Other new additions include the American-style restaurant Shake Shake Homa, juice bar Guava Juice, a boutique coffee and lifestyle shop called Rooftop Macau and Bare Nutrition, a retailer selling natural and organic personal care products.
Taipa Village is located on the island of Taipa, south of the Macao peninsula and connected to it via three bridges.
Cathay Pacific adds additional routes to meet demand
In December 2017, Cathay Pacific boosted the frequency of its flights between Manchester and Hong Kong, from five days a week to daily. Cathay Pacific is also launching a four times-weekly service direct to Hong Kong from Dublin airport in June. The new year-round service will be Dublin Airport’s first ever direct route to the Asia-Pacific region.
Along with the new flights, Macao is set to become even more accessible for UK visitors with the opening of the much-anticipated Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge, which is expected to take place later this year. The bridge will give direct road access between Macao and Hong Kong.
MGM COTAI opens its doors
MGM COTAI, which opened its doors on 13 February 2018, is the latest addition to MGM’s portfolio in Macao. With its unique contemporary design, Asia’s first adaptive and dynamic theatre, as well as one of the world’s largest collections of sensory digital art, the MGM COTAI is set to impress.
The hotel also boasts 1,400 stylish rooms and suites, meeting spaces to suit corporate events of different sizes, a state-of-the-art spa, sophisticated retail options, and nine unique restaurants and bars, led by globally-acclaimed chefs, including the two Michelin-starred French-Argentinian chef Mauro Colagreco; Peruvian and Nikkei expert Mitsuharu Tsumura; award-winning chef and American TV personality Graham Elliot; and Singaporean pastry chef Janice Wong.
Other forthcoming hotel developments include Morpheus, a fifth tower within the City of Dreams Macau complex, is due to open later this year and the Grand Lisboa Palace, a resort that will feature three hotels with around 2,000 rooms.
Forthcoming Events
Macao plays host to series of fascinating and colourful events and festivals throughout the year, which bring to life its unique and multicultural heritage. Here is a highlight of those which are coming up soon:
29th Macao Arts Festival, 27 April – 31 May
Performance artists from across the world gather in Macao for the annual Arts Festival. Over the course of a month, audiences can enjoy a dazzling programme of local and international theatre, traditional and modern dance, Chinese and Western music, multimedia and visual arts. To top things off, several performances are hosted by some of Macao’s enchanting and atmospheric UNESCO-listed World Heritage sites.
The Procession of Our Lady of Fátima, 13 May
The Procession of Our Lady of Fátima parades through the streets of Macao on the thirteenth day of May every year, in order to commemorate her apparition to three peasant children in Fátima (Portugal) in 1917. A woman dressed in white clothing carries the statue from St. Dominic’s Church to the Chapel of Our Lady of Penha, where an open-air mass is held.
Feast of the Drunken Dragon, 22 May
One of Macao’s most famous – and wild – local festivals, this event involves fishermen drinking large amounts of rice wine and dancing with wooden dragons in a procession that takes them from the Kuan Tai temple near Senado Square to Macao’s Inner Harbour. This is all done to commemorate the slaying of a sea dragon.
The Macao International Dragon Boat Races, 16 – 18 June
The Dragon Boat Festival (which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month in Chinese Lunar Calendar) commemorates the Chinese poet Qu Yuan, who protested corruption by drowning himself. Today, the hugely popular Macao International Dragon Boat Races take place on on Nam Van Lake on the historic Praia Grande shorefront with many local and international teams participating in one of the most popular outdoor parties in Macao.
For more information, visit: www.macaotourism.gov.mo
