Macau’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Elsie Ao Ieong U, says the government expects to be able to conduct trial runs of operations “later this year” for the city’s planned outdoor venue for large-scale concerts. The new space might host the first performance “in January or February next year,” she added in comments to local media on Tuesday.
The government announced on Monday that it would build a 94,000-square-metre (1.01-million-sq-feet) temporary venue (pictured foreground in a rendering) in Cotai, just beside SJM Holdings Ltd’s Grand Lisboa Palace casino resort.
“The construction of this [open-air] venue will create good conditions for large-scale outdoor shows to be held in Macau, in order to attract international-level performances to the city,” stated the Cultural Affairs Bureau in a press release.
Currently, several public services are conducting preparatory work at the site, and a public tender will take place before construction starts.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a public occasion on Tuesday, Secretary Ao Ieong said the authorities aim to conduct a trial at the end of this year, to test transport arrangements, crowd control measures, coordination of traffic, and security procedures.
The government had said that the venue will have all the necessary “basic facilities and complementary equipment to receive large-scale performances”.
Ms Ao Ieong clarified that any promoter of a show at the purpose-built venue will have to be “responsible for setting up the stage and other specific requirements for each performance,” namely because the stage setup could be different depending on the requirements for each show.
