Macau Public Holidays, Events & Festivals

1st January: It is celebrated with great joy in all the hotels and discos in Macau, and there is a firework display at mid-night at the Nam Van Lake to welcome the New Year.

End of January, beginning of February - 1st day of the First: It is the most important and colourful Chinese festival celebrated by the majority of the local population, where shops, offices, factories close for this traditional holiday. During ten days there are a huge number of events celebrating the New Year. The long dragon and lions dance on the streets, crowds visit the temples, lanterns, flowers and entertainment comes alive in the most important squares of the city. It is also a tradition, when people visit and greet each other with two joined hands closed, saying "Kung Hei Fat Choi" and offering "Lai Si" (red pockets) containing money, which is a way to wish good luck and prosperity throughout the year to friends and relatives. 15th day of the First Moon is the Lanterns Festival, being equally the Valentine's Days in the Chinese tradition. At night, the celebrations continue with colorful lanterns placed around. Small balls of glutinous rice is prepared as dessert, for homophonic reasons and symbolizes the "ribbon of friendship", "family reunion" or "good luck" for the Chinese.

February/March: A unique Macau religious celebration when an image of Christ carrying the Cross is taken in solemn procession from St. Augustine's Church to the Cathedral for an overnight vigil. It is then returned through the city via the stations of the Cross, accompanied by a magenta-robed escort and crowds of the faithful and curious.

March: Tou Tei is the Earth God and he is said to be everywhere. Celebrations are held at the Tou Tei Temples around the city.

March/April: A very important festival especially among the Christian community. Many shops sell sweets related to this festival, as chocolates, Portuguese "folar" (egg cake), etc.

April Falling on the 106th day after the Winter Solstice, Ching Ming is a family affair. It is the day when relatives flock to their ancestors' graves. They tidy the tombstones and arrange fresh flowers and three glasses of wine before them. They burn joss sticks and paper objects, in the belief that the dead will receive these "the other side". Paper cars, money, mahjong sets, even cellular phones go up in smoke. The families also present roast piglets, fruit and other food to the deceased but that doesn't go to waste. The day usually ends with a family feast.

April: Performances of Chinese opera are usually held in a mat-shed at the Pak Tai Temple in Taipa village. According to legend, Pak Tai conquered Demon King, who was terrorizing the universe. As a reward he was given the title of Superior Divinity of the Deep Dark Heaven and True Soldier of the North. Chinese opera is performed by his temple on Taipa.

April / 23rd day of the Third Moon: Homage is paid to Macau's most popular deity, the Goddess of Seafarers, from whom Macau is said to derive its name. The maiden A-Ma (also known as Tin Hau) ordered the elements to calm down when a storm threatened a boat. The winds abated. On the spot where the boat reached land, the grateful mariners built the A-Ma Temple. A day when seafarers and their families visit the ancient temple in the Inner Harbour.

May: This festival is organized by the Cultural Institute. It is the time when most of the cultural associations and institutes of Macau display their best shows. Normally the programme includes concerts, dance, painting exhibitions, Chinese opera, theatre etc... It is an occasion when the cultural diversity of Macau comes to the stage. For specific information about the programme of this event please visit http://www.icm.gov.mo

May / 8th day of the Fourth Moon: "Feast of Bathing of the Lord Buddha" - A day when the images of Buddha are ceremonially cleaned and purified in Buddhist Temples throughout the territory; "Feast of the Drunken Dragon": This is a very strange festival if compared with the other major Chinese festivals. It dates from the misty past from the Kangxi Kingdom of the Qing Dynasty. Praying to the Buddha for help against a disastrous plague, villagers were carrying his statue when suddenly a giant python leaped out of the river on to the bank, blocking the way. A Buddhist monk slashed at the monster, cutting it into three pieces which were tossed into the river. The pieces writhed about and then, amid a great wind and thunder, they flew up into the sky.Miraculously, the people recovered from the plague and the turf which has been stained with the creature's blood proved to be unusually fertile. Believing that they had been saved by a divine dragon, the people carved its image and at the annual festival when the Buddha is bathed they drank wildly and danced with the dragon. The fishermen associations organize this festival, which start in the morning in the Kuan Tai Temple near S. Domingos Market (near Senado Square), where men perform a drunken dance with wooden heads and tails of a dragon. Then, they go on the direction of the Inner Harbour and pay a visit some shops and piers on the waterfront. At each stop they drink wine until they are not able to go on. All the participants and observers end the day with a great dinner.; "Tam Kong Festival": A colourful festival celebrating the birthday of the God Tam Kong. This child god is said to control the weather and help the sick. Among the fishing community, he is second in popularity only to A-Ma. There is Chinese opera, a procession through the streets and lively lion dances, while traditional offerings are made and firecrackers burnt near Coloane Village's Tam Kong Temple.

13th May: Annual procession of devotees, from S. Domingos Church to the Penha Chapel where an open-air mass is said. The event commemorated the miracle of Fátima in Portugal in 1917.

May or June / 5th day of the Fifth Moon: This old Chinese festival is to commemorate the heroic poet Wat Yuen who protested against corruption by drowning himself. Today all celebrations are concentrated on the famous Dragon Boat Races, which in Macau takes place on the Nam Van Lake. Many local teams and foreign teams take part in this colourful event.

August / 7th day of the Seventh Moon: Sometimes referred to as the Lovers' Festival, it falls on the seventh day of the seventh moon on the lunar calendar and has deep meaning for unmarried women. The festival celebrates the only day in the year when the legendary Heavenly Weaver can meet her lover, the Cowherd, over a bridge of birds spanning the Milky Way.

August / 14th day of the Seventh Moon: In order to appease the ancestors' souls and all the forgotten spirits, people make small models in paper of objects, and burn it all with incense on the pavements of the streets or at the entrance door of their houses. They worship the gods to protect those beloved ones and for that prepare dishes of meat and fruits.

September / October: The largest of its kind and one of the most important in the world. Experts from different countries are invited to Macau to compete with spectacles of fireworks set off over the Nam Van Lake. Imagine the night sky of Macau glowing in a myriad of magnificent fireworks and accompanied by the cheers and applauses of spectators enjoying the impact of the light and sound show. What a splendid scene! The annual "Macau International Fireworks Display Contest" not only lights up the nights of Macau, but also the hearts of spectators. Local residents long for the marvelous fireworks displays that add a joyous atmosphere to holidays and festivals. The Contest has also become an annual characteristic of Macau. Many visitors specially choose this time of the year to come to Macau to enjoy an exotic and romantic holiday. Macau attaches great importance to cultural heritage. In fact, the firecracker industry used to be one of the three handicrafts in Macau, and fireworks, being a significant element in Macau's cultural heritage, also has a long history in Portugal. To celebrate this 'colorful' history and cultural inheritance, Macau started to stage the annual "Macau International Fireworks Display Contest" from the 1980's to demonstrate the unique vibes of Macau when the magnificent fireworks light up Macau's stunning scenery. The Macau International Fireworks Display Contest has grown over the years into an internationally acclaimed event, one of the best of its kind. The Macau International Fireworks Display Contest first started in 1989; with only five participating teams. By 1995, the event has developed from the original five-team contest to a ten-team event, with two different teams showing their expertise each night. For the past years, over 100 international teams from China, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan China, Japan, Korea, Australia, United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain have taken part in the "Macau International Fireworks Display Contest". The Macau Government Tourist Office will continue to work towards advancing the event's international status and reputation, with the vision to bring about the world's most prominent international fireworks display.

September / October: The centre of this celebration is the Moon on the 15th day of the 8th month, according to the lunar calendar. People make especial lunar cakes, which they offer, to each other in familiar and friends visits. The preparation of the cakes requires the eggs and the ingredients to be energetically shaken. At night everybody goes out to observe the new moon and to worship the gods with colourful and exquisite lanterns. In Macau the traditional spots for that are the Praia Grande and Nam Van Lake, all gardens and Hac-Sa and Cheoc-Van beaches in Coloane. People sometimes leave their lanterns floating on the water.

October: This is a Festival that every year brings to Macau some of the finest orchestras, singers, choirs and music players. The programme contemplates both the Western and the Chinese classical and modern music. The climax is traditionally the performance of an opera. However all the concerts and recitals take place all over the Territory in the baroque churches, in the Chinese pavilions, in the gardens and in the Auditoria of the Cultural Centre.

September or October / 9th day of the Ninth Moon: Also known as the Festival of Ascending Heights, celebrated by the Chinese, when many people climb hills after offering prayers at family graves.

September / October: With presence of high profile players and support of the Macau Golf and Country Club, the Macau Open gives the region's golfers a chance to test their rapidly development skills against the best in the world.

November: It is probably the most internationally known event produced in Macau, because of its quality and of its history of five decades. The Grand Prix is in fact a set of car and motorcycle races in a city circuit. During the days of the Grand Prix the city lives an extraordinary excitement: the noise of the engines, the crowds of tourists, the colourful decoration of the streets. All changes the rhythm of life during one week.

To know more about this event, please visit:
http://www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo

25th December: Although the great majority of the population in Macau is not Christian, this season in Macau is particularly different. One can feel a bit of Europe on the air. Some cake shops and hotels prepare traditional Portuguese Christmas cakes and the entire city is decorated with lights and Nativity scenes.