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A "Happy Hong Kong" Supporting Event in Eastern District
As a showcase of the wider Hong Kong society's creativity, and with the aim of injecting fun and positive energy into the community, "Quarryside Summer Fest" (the Fest) officially kicked off today at Quarryside, a newly-launched community space in Quarry Bay.
The Fest is one of the "Happy Hong Kong" Supporting Event organised by St. James' Settlement, with the Eastern District Office of Home Affairs Department as the co-organiser and sponsor. As the Community Sponsor, Swire Properties is providing exclusive food and drinks offers in partnership with selected F&B outlets in the district.
The Fest's opening ceremony was held today, officiated by a host of special guests including: Mr Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government; Mr Clarence Leung, Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs of the HKSAR Government; Mrs Alice Cheung Chiu, Director of Home Affairs of the HKSAR Government; Mr Simon Chan, District Officer (Eastern) of Home Affairs Department of the HKSAR Government; Mr Brian Li, Vice Chairman of St. James' Settlement's Executive Committee; and Mr Tim Blackburn, Chief Executive of Swire Properties.
Some 200 guests and members of the public were invited to the opening ceremony. Highlights of the event include the eye-catching inflatable installation and customised community art installation; as well as a host of summer-themed snack booths, which are very popular.
What's more, Financial Secretary Mr Paul Chan took this opportunity to sample a cup of hand-drip coffee made by the young entrepreneur who will be operating the coffee shop at Quarryside. An award-winning local acapella group "boonfaysau" also performed a sugar-themed medley of Hong Kong pop songs, inspired by Quarry Bay's history of sugar refinery, to add to the delightful festivities.
"We are thankful for the support from the Eastern District Office and Swire Properties for making this Quarryside Summer Fest a successful event, and it is an honour to be one of the "Happy Hong Kong" supporting events. As the first community festive event held at Quarryside since its opening, we hope to bring more creativity-led activities to the public, and provide a new arts and culture and community space in Eastern District," said Mr Brian Li, Vice Chairman of St. James' Settlement's Executive Committee.
The Financial Secretary Mr Paul Chan said that the Quarryside Summer Fest features an array of exciting activities, as well as attractive F&B offers by local outlets in Quarry Bay. I hope the positive energy created from this event would be passed onto the community. From the venue to the activities of the Fest, we can see the tripartite collaboration of Government, NGOs and the private sector for the betterment of the community.
Mr Tim Blackburn, Chief Executive of Swire Properties, said, "We are delighted to kick off the 'Quarryside Summer Fest' and to help Hong Kong residents relax, recharge and enjoy the live entertainment, food and drink, and art and culture, at one of the city's newest community spaces. We have a deep connection with Quarry Bay, and we are very pleased to be able to collaborate with the Eastern District Office of Home Affairs Department and St. James' Settlement as part of our commitment to building vibrant communities."
Created with Health and Wellness in mind, the Fest features a multitude of free arts and cultural activities for young and old alike. Featured activities include Silent Disco x Yoga & Mindfulness, and swing dance, which offer visitors new healthy experiences.
A large inflatable balloon has been anchored at this new community space in the Eastern District and is set to be a wonderful social media check-in spot. There is also an art installation featuring 27 sets of sugar-cube-like blocks, which visitors can play and interact with - adding more colour to the space.
The highlight of the Fest will be the live music performance on the evening of 26 August. An exciting line-up of up-and-coming Hong Kong musical talents will showcase a variety of music genres to celebrate the summer season. Performers include:
Visitors are recommended to try out all the activities for free such as quick portrait drawing, balloon twisting, bubble fun, Ro Ro Reading Taxi, as well as the 14 free arts & crafts sessions, tasting workshops and family activities including bamboo handfan weaving, peanut brittle making, food waste jewelry upcycling, local fruit aromas: herbal tea-bag, coffee tasting workshops and "The Ocean Adventure" Theatre, which are all available for pre-registration.
With support from Swire Properties, over 40 F&B outlets (Chinese, Western, Japanese, Korean cuisines and more) across Taikoo Place and Quarry Bay have created exclusive offers tailor-made for the Fest. For example, foodies can try out exclusive items for HKD50 during the Fest at F&B outlets such as MR & MRS FOX, KIN Food Halls, CATCH and Pici.
Admission to the Quarryside Summer Fest is free, today and tomorrow. Pre-registration is required for selected activities. There is a limited walk-in quota for such activities, on a first-come, first-served basis. For full details, visit www.quarryside.hk.
Mr Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government (3rd left); Mr Clarence Leung, Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs of the HKSAR Government (2nd right); Mrs Alice Cheung Chiu, Director of Home Affairs of the HKSAR Government (1st left); Mr Simon Chan, District Officer (Eastern) of Home Affairs Department of the HKSAR Government (1st right); Mr Brian Li, Vice Chairman of St. James' Settlement's Executive Committee (3rd right); and Mr Tim Blackburn, Chief Executive of Swire Properties (2nd left) officiate the Quarryside Summer Fest Opening Ceremony today.
Mr Paul Chan, Financial Secretary (right) samples a cup of hand-drip coffee made by the young entrepreneur (left) who will operate the coffee shop at Quarryside.
Approximately 200 guests and visitors joined the Opening Ceremony of Quarryside Summer Fest, which features free arts and cultural activities for young and old.
The highlight of the Quarryside Summer Fest takes place this evening (26 August) - the Live Music Show. An exciting line-up of up-and-coming Hong Kong musical talents is set to gather at Quarryside and showcase a variety of music genres to celebrate the season.
A large inflatable balloon has been anchored at Quarryside, and is set to be a wonderful social media check-in spot.
There's also the 27 sets of sugar-cube-like blocks, another art installation, which visitors can play and interact with - adding a quirky vibe to the already unique Quarryside.
With support from Swire Properties, over 40 F&B outlets across Taikoo Place and Quarry Bay are providing exclusive offers tailor-made for the Fest.
With support from Swire Properties, over 40 F&B outlets across Taikoo Place and Quarry Bay are providing exclusive offers tailor-made for the Fest.
Operated by St. James' Settlement, "Quarryside" is a new harbourfront community space project near Hoi Shin Lane in Quarry Bay through the concerted efforts amongst the Government, NGOs and the private sector. The project has transformed a vacant land plot spanning 3,740 sqm into a vibrant leisure space for community-led creative initiatives. The construction of the project is financially supported under the "Funding Scheme to Support the Use of Vacant Government Sites by Non-government Organizations" of the Development Bureau. Swire Properties, as the Supporting Partner of the project, provides consultancy support for the design, construction and operation of the community space. St. James' Settlement received a HK$15 million sponsorship from the Swire Trust to operate the space and organise a series of public programmes, with strategic focuses on Creative Place-making, Creative Health and Creative Sustainability to cultivate a creative, healthy and sustainable community. For further information, please visit https://quarryside.hk/.
About St. James' Settlement
Founded by the Rt. Rev. Bishop R.O. Hall of the Anglican Church in 1949, St. James' Settlement began as a club for boys and girls in a temple in Stone Nullah Lane, Wanchai. It was then developed into a six-storey building on Kennedy Road in 1963 to provide diversified services, including children and youth services, elderly services and rehabilitation services. In 1987, the headquarters was opened in Stone Nullah Lane so that the scope of services could be further extended. Our first centre outside Wanchai (named Central and Western District Elderly Community Centre) was established in 1990. Since then, different service centres have been developed and most of them are located along the north coast of Hong Kong Island, from The Belcher's in Western to Hing Wah Estate in Chai Wan. In recent years, in view of the society's ever-changing needs, we have opened service centres in Kowloon and the New Territories. To date, our 85 service points are in operation across Hong Kong, serving more than 2.5 million person-times, and our target beneficiaries include children, teenagers, families, the elderly and people with disabilities.
Visit St. James' Settlement's website at https://sjs.org.hk/.
About Swire Properties
Swire Properties develops and manages commercial, retail, hotel, and residential properties, with a particular focus on mixed-use developments in prime locations at major mass transportation intersections. Swire Properties is listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and its investment portfolio in Hong Kong comprises Taikoo Place, Pacific Place, Cityplaza, Citygate Outlets. The Company's completed portfolio in Hong Kong comprises approximately 16.6 million sq ft (approximately 1.54 million sqm) of space.
In the Chinese Mainland, Swire Properties has six completed mixed-use developments in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu. They include Taikoo Li Sanlitun and INDIGO in Beijing, HKRI Taikoo Hui and Taikoo Li Qiantan in Shanghai, Taikoo Hui Guangzhou and Taikoo Li Chengdu. INDIGO II in Beijing, Taikoo Li Xi'an and a new retail-led project in Sanya are currently under development. The Company's completed portfolio in the Chinese Mainland comprises approximately 14.1 million sq ft (approximately 1.31 million sqm) of space.
In addition to Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, the Company has investments in the United States, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.
Visit Swire Properties' website at www.swireproperties.com