Eight Chinese opera programmes will be staged at the inaugural Chinese Culture Festival (CCF) from June to August.

Organised by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department, the Chinese Opera Festival (COF) is in its 12th edition this year and has become a core part of the CCF. It will cover Cantonese opera, North Road Bangzi opera, Chiuchow opera, Liuzi opera, Yue opera, Kunqu opera, Wu opera and Peking opera.

The COF will start off with Cyrano de Bergerac - A Cantonese Opera Interpretation, a new interdisciplinary production developed by Cantonese opera virtuoso Law Ka-ying. The play is an adaptation of a 19th-century French classic piece of the same title. Mr Law partners with famous veterans Liza Wang and Sun Kim Long to present this well-known story of a love triangle.

As this year marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of Yin Guifang, founder of the Yin School of Yue opera, the department has invited the Fujian Fanghua Yue Opera Troupe to take part in the COF for the first time and introduce Liu Yong and The Jade Dragonfly.

Chiuchow opera will be staged at the COF again this year. The Guangdong Chiu Chow Opera Theatre Number One Troupe and Hong Kong's Sun Hon Kwong Chiu Chow Opera Troupe will join hands to present Princess of Eastern Wu and Poet Li Shangyin.

The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre will be back with a grand line-up to unveil the classic repertoire The Palace of Eternal Life.

The Zhejiang Wu Opera Research Centre is returning with its latest production Sun Wu Kong Thrice Beat the Bony Demon, and Journey to the West with magnificent stunts and techniques.

This year's COF will also introduce two regional operatic genres with high artistic standards and unique styles. North Road Bangzi opera of Shanxi will make its debut at the COF with two classic plays set in high Tang, Sobering Up after Being Drunk and Dotting the Eye of a Painted Dragon. Shandong's Centre for the Safeguarding of Liuzi Opera will bring the representative work of Liuzi opera, Sun An Presenting Memorials, back to the Hong Kong stage after 16 years.

The Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company, from the city of focus of this year's CCF, will present the grand finale of the COF with The House of Wulong. Plum Blossom awardee Fu Xiru will lead an excellent young cast to perform the full-length serial opera Seven Heroes & Five Gallants. This programme is also one of the Shanghai Culture Week events.

Tickets are now available at URBTIX and the Xiqu Centre Ticket Office. Call 3166 1288 for telephone bookings. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, call 2268 7325 or visit the COF website.