Ninth China Wuqiao International Circus Festival to open ( 2003-10-15 15:44) (China Daily)
The ninth China Wuqiao
International Circus Festival will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 9 in Shijiazhuang,
capital of north China's Hebei Province, with nearly 400 acrobats from 14
countries performing.
Sun Shibin, vice-governor of Hebei and vice-chairman of the organizing
committee, said Tuesday the festival would include opening and closing
ceremonies, competitions and performances, animal performances, and exhibitions
of circus painting and Chinese acrobatics.
The organizers will also invite domestic and overseas audiences to visit
Wuqiao, known as the "birthplace of the Chinese acrobatics", and watch
performances by local people.
Sun said the 28 performances to be staged were selected from nearly 100
candidate performances from acrobatic troupes from more than 30 countries and
regions. The jury committee would have nine foreign experts and two Chinese
scholars. The top prize would be 50,000 yuan (US$6,100).
The festival, initiated in 1987, is one of the three most important acrobatic
competitions in the world. So far, it has attracted more than 300 performances
from over 40 countries and regions.