The Leisure & Cultural Services Department today announced that it will host a wealth of programmes to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Such programmes, comprising cultural, arts, recreational and sports events, will be held from May to the end of this year and most of the fee-charging leisure facilities will be open for free use by the public on July 1, the department said in a press release.

Various Hong Kong Jockey Club Series and large-scale exhibitions will be staged in the department’s museums. They include the naked eye 3D and installations with arts and technology incorporated at the new extension of the Oi! art space; the Big Eight - Dinosaur Revelation which showcases precious dinosaur fossil skeletons; the Dunhuang: Enchanting Tales for Millennium displaying Dunhuang grottoes; and the Road to the Baroque - Masterpieces from the Capodimonte Museum presenting top-notch Italian paintings from the Baroque period.

Audiences can also explore the world of Chinese landscape paintings through modern technology in the Mastering Masterpieces: the Essentials of Chinese Landscape Paintings exhibition and learn about feminine characteristics and daily lives in ancient China through the Women & Femininity in Ancient China: Treasures from the Nanjing Museum show.

Meanwhile, in collaboration with the K11 Group, Kerry Group and Sino Group, the department will present the Art@Harbour project, under which art installations will be on display in the Tamar Park area as well as on the promenades of Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom.

To commemorate its 60th anniversary, City Hall, together with the Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Public Libraries, will organise various celebration activities, the department explained.

As for recreational activities, the department will hold the Blossom Around Town scheme to carry out beautification works at 48 prominent locations and parks from June to October. Such works will include large floral displays, floral walls, a Jurassic maze garden, themed garden displays and enhancements of roadside amenity areas with colourful flowers and signature plants to enhance the landscape across the city.

Additionally, a series of park activities, Happy@Parks, will be held from June to December to allow users to enjoy the vibrant and joyful atmosphere in Hong Kong’s parks via recreational activities and games during holidays.

Apart from the Sport For All Day 2022, scheduled for August 7, the department added that it will hold the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong SAR - Free Use of Leisure Facilities event on July 1 to encourage citizens to form the habit of exercising.