As Macau ramps up its challenge to Hong Kong as a destination for arts and entertainment, we can count another significant addition to its music scene as a tick in the upstart SAR’s culture box. The Rockit Macau International Music and Arts Fest (MIMA) lands in March and continues into April with an international showcase of the best bands from around the region, and one or two other major drawcards from more distant shores. The organisers behind this are the guys who brought Hong Kong the much-loved, but ultimately short-lived, Rockit music festivals that took place at Victoria Park and hosted the likes of Ian Brown and Japan’s incredible Electric Eel Shock. Add this to the quality International Music Festival in October – which last year brought in DJ Spooky and Portugal’s Buraka Som Sistema for free concerts in a castle – and you can get a sense for what a draw Macau is shaping itself into for music lovers in 2010. It’s all to the good – let’s just hope Hong Kong can respond to the challenge.

March
TBC Rockit Macau International Music and Arts Fes

April
20 Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
24 Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra Germany

May
TBC Macao Arts Festival

September
11, 18, 22, 25 & Oct 1 Macau International Fireworks Display Contest

October
TBC Macau International Music Festival

November
6-15 Macau Beer Carnival
18-21 Macau Grand Prix

2010 planner:

Food & Drink

Art

Stage

Film

Music & Clubbing

Sport & City Events

Macau