Shanghai City Guide - events

Moon Festival
One of China's most beloved cultural celebrations is the Moon Festival in autumn, marking the end of the harvest season. Main symbol of the festival is the baking and eating of Moon Cakes: round pastries with sweet fillings. In Shanghai the favourite filling is red bean paste. Houses are decorated with coloured animal-shaped paper lanterns and altars are piled with round fruits to symbolise the shape of the moon. The evening is spent moon-gazing and enjoying the company of family, before enjoying a feast at midnight.
Venue:
Date: 14 September 2008
Website:

China Shanghai International Arts Festival
Shanghai becomes the focus of arts fundis during the month-long festival hosted by the Ministry of Culture annually since 1999. The varied programme features more than 150 performances covering everything from symphony orchestras, dance, and opera to acrobatics, magic and drama. Allied events are an international piano competition, magic festival and contest, an Asia music festival and an arts and crafts fair.
Venue: Various throughout the city
Date: October/November 2008, TBC
Website: www.artsbird.com

Shanghai Tourism Festival
The massive Shanghai Tourism Festival showcases not only all the city has to offer visitors, but is the perfect event for locals and foreigners to discover the fascinating Chinese culture and history. The opening ceremony takes the form of a grand-scale parade of floats and international performance troupes telecast live to the whole country. Millions of locals and visitors participate in the hundreds of events and activities presented at the festival ranging from Chinese cooking classes and bicycle tours to fireworks displays.
Venue: Various
Date: September/October 2008, TBC
Website:

Chinese New Year
New Year starts with a bang in Shanghai, where exuberant and exceedingly loud fireworks displays rock the city all night long on this, China's most merry of celebrations. Not everyone appreciates the scale of the fireworks, but traditionally the noise is necessary to frighten off evil spirits for the coming year. During the national holiday the Bund and clubs throughout the city are thronged with revellers, making for a city-wide party. In 2008 the Year of the Rat begins.
Venue: Throughout the city
Date: 6-7 February 2008
Website:

Chinese F1 Grand Prix
A new circuit in the Formula One Grand Prix, Shanghai's International Circuit welcomes the deafening noise, prestige, speed and the very best in motor racing that comes with such a spectacle.
Venue: Shanghai International Circuit
Date: 12 October 2008, TBC
Website: www.icsh.sh.cn