October 16-November 9
On the 30th anniversary of ‘China’s Reform and the Opening-up of China’ as launched by Deng Xiaopeng, 10 films reflecting the nation’s progress have been chosen for the annual Chinese Film Panorama. Sudden Incidence, which focuses on conflicts between a veteran county official and his new subordinate, opens the programme together with Way of the Snowstorm, a film about civil order set in a blizzard with police and civilians trying to maintain order amid the bad weather. Other subjects covered in this year’s panorama include reforms in Inner Mongolian, Tibetan history and Chinese-US trade. On a contemporary note, Dream Weavers – Beijing 2008 is a documentary on the planning of the Beijing Olympics. Screenings will be at the Hong Kong Film Archive, Hong Kong Space Museum and Hong Kong Science Museum. Tickets are $45 from URBTIX, 2734 900. See the listings or www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp for exact schedule, or contact 2734 9009.

October 18 and 26
The Magicians’ Association of Hong Kong has always been adding magic to the city. This time, it is hosting The Magical Raiders’ Astounding Party in the North District Town Hall and Tai Po Civic Centre for two nights. The programme includes separate shows by the association members. The shows start at 8pm and tickets are $110 and $80 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

October 18 and 19
Japanese conductor Yasuo Shinozaki, a last minute replacement for the ill Zdenk Macal, will lead the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in Dvorák’s Seventh Symphony and Polka from Czech Suite, and Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto no.2. Malaysian-Chinese pianist John Chen will join them to play Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto. Shinozaki will conduct two concerts-at 8pm on Saturday, and 3pm on Sunday in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets are $280, $220, $160, $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

The MädchenChor Hannover is one of the best-known youth choirs in Germany, having won the Deutscher Chorwettbewerb in 2006 with the highest score ever awarded in the competition. Gudrun Schröfel leads the choir in two concerts which include the works of Holst (Hymn to the Dawn, Hymn to the Waters, Hymn to Vena, Hymn to the Travellers), Mozart (Six Nocturnos), Shaiman (I Will Follow Him), ABBA (Thank You For the Music)... The performance will start at 8pm on the18th in Shatin Town Hall and on the 19th in the Tsuen Wan Town Hall. Tickets are $200, $150, $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

October 18-22
It is a fairy tale that never goes out of fashion – and the Hong Kong Singers are going to show us why as they bring Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the full broadway musical, to Hong Kong. The production features all the music from the Disney film plus some new songs especially written for Broadway. In a combination of song and dance with lots of lighting and costume changes, the fairy story of Belle and the Beast becomes a live fantasy in the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre at 7:30pm every night, with two matinees at 2:30pm on the weekends. Ticket prices are $350 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Sunday October 19
Tragically, on average 4 people a day commit suicide in Hong Kong. All the funds raised at this years Parkview Charity Bazaar will go to the Suicide Prevention Services who aim to help people contemplating suicide, www.sps.org.hk. The bazaar takes place from 10am to 4pm at Hong Kong Parkview (88 Tai Tam Road). There will be around 60 stalls selling various accessories, second-hand products and toys. There will be games, lucky draws, performances and food stalls. Entry fee is $20. Parking is free, and there is a shuttle bus service from the City Hall bus stop in Central ($20/person per trip). For enquiries, call 2382 3102.

October 23-25
The legendary modern dance company Nederlands Dance Theatre I has brought together some choreographic titans for the New Vision Arts Festival. Their triple bill includes Tar and Feathers, a ‘pure’ movement classic with a live piano performance three metres above the stage, Shoot the Moon, a signature staging with three men and two women shuttling between the walls of a three-room set, and Renature, a dance exploration of revitalizing nature after mankind’s damage to it. The show will be held in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre at 7:30pm. Tickets are $500, $350, $250, $150 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

October 24 and 25
In the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s annual Broadway romp, the orchestra will be rocking with songs from The Wiz, Jekyll and Hyde, Hairspray, Movin’ Out, Dracula, The Lion King, Rent, Tommy, Wicked, Chess, Dreamgirls, Jesus Christ Superstar, Spamalot, Phantom of the Opera, Hair with a powerful cast of Broadway vocalists. Bravo Broadway Rocks! shakes the Queen Elizabeth Stadium from 8pm, tickets are $380, $280, $200, $160 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Remember Woody Allen’s movie Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask which featured Woody as a sperm? Well, people become sperms again in DK Hollywood’s Boiler Maker – We are the Sperm Cells. Hollywood, believe it or not, is from Japan and, in a search for the meaning of life, he takes us on a musical journey through the trials which sperm must encounter as they struggle to find the womb and their perfect ovum. The evening shows start 7:30pm in the HKAPA Drama Theatre, with a matinee at 2:30pm on the 25th. Tickets
are $420, $320, $220 and $150 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

The Folk Art Theatre Song and Dance Troupe of Yunnan Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture is a long name for a vibrant company which consists of ethnic dancers. Their Colourful Yi of Yunnan will showcase the Yi people’s history and customs through folk dances and songs as well as performances on ethnic musical instruments like the xiaomendi and hulusheng. The show will close with the award-winning Left-foot Song and Dance which took out the first prize at the 13th CCTV Singing Contest for Youth. Tickets from URBTIX are $180, $140 for the October 24 performance -8pm at the Sheung Wan Civic Centre; $160, $120 and $80 for the show on October 25 again at 8pm but at the Yuen Long Theatre.

Sunday October 26
An adaptation of the Butterfly Lovers directed by Jingle Ma is currently screening in local cinemas. Today the Hong Kong Youth Cantonese Opera Troupe performs it in its original Chinese opera form. It’s not often you find two such different productions of the same story playing concurrently with the oppourtunity to compare the different interpretations and audience experience. The theatre performance will be held in the Shatin Town Hall Auditorium at 7:30pm. Tickets are at $80 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

October 28, November 1
Diwali, a major Indian and Nepalese festival is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs the world over as The Festival of Lights. Homes and shops are decorated with lamps and lights, fireworks decorate the night sky to celebrate the victory of good over evil and to pray to the gods for prosperity. Celebrations in the city include a night of classical Indian music, The Masters of Percussion, with renowned tabla maestro Zakir Hussain on November 1 at Queen Elizabeth Stadium. Tickets are $600, $400 and $200, from 6019 0621.

October 29-30
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is often described as America’s most forward thinking and contemporary orchestra. Under its long-time conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, the orchestra is always searching out new directions and new music, although for its debut visit to Hong Kong the LA Phil, as it is affectionately known, is playing some of the greatest favourites in the classical repertoire. On the 29th, the programme includes Stravinsky’s Fireworks, Op 4 and The Firebird, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1 in B-flat Minor, Op 23 with Yefim Bronfman as the soloist. On the 30th, works include Falla’s Three Dances from El Amor Brujo, Debussy’s La Mer, Ravel’s Ma Mère l'Oye and Boléro. The concerts start at 8pm in the Concert Hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Prices are $780, $650, $520, $380, $250 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

October 29-31, November 1 and 2
Waiting for Godot, the phrase that has come to mean ‘waiting for salvation’ in the Cantonese language, is coming for real to Hong Kong. The acclaimed play by Samuel Beckett is about a couple of characters waiting fruitlessly for salvation from another referred to as Godot. Their anticipation is interrupted by the arrival of two strangers who may or may not be alter egos of the two first on stage. This play on the meaning of salvation and its effects will be staged in the HKAPA Drama Theatre at 7:30pm from Wednesday to Sunday, with one show at 10:30am on the 30th (Thursday) and two at 2:30pm on the weekends. Tickets are $195 to $495 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.