If you’re not sure where to go yet, read on for the best spots in Taipa and Coloane during the Light up Macao 2023 festival.
The festival that literally brings the city to light is here once more. Until February 25, everyone is invited to enjoy Light up Macao 2023, true feast of brightness, with light installations engaging interactive displays and innovative mapping demonstrations spread out across 34 sites within seven districts spanning the Macao Peninsula, Taipa, and Coloane.
Under the theme Dazzling Wonderland, the Festival promises exactly that: to create an atmosphere of wonder and fantasy, elevating the city into a world of harmless fun and delight. Right as all the important festivities take place, so too does the city gain light and that special kind of energy.
Take time to choose what places to visit first, enjoy Macao like never before, and make sure to post your best pictures!
**This is a sponsored feature.
Fairytale Taipa
Across the bridge from Macao, Taipa has transformed itself into a Fantasy Fairyland. All of your already-favourite locations (and maybe a few hidden jewels) are now locations taken right out of a fairytale book.
We suggest starting right at the unique Vila da Taipa Historical Center Archway, where children will find their magical side and adults will be able to get in touch with childhood memories. A life-size Glittering Music Box, finished with bright lightbulbs and painted pink, is there to ensure dreams can come true. Visitors can enter the installation, take pictures, and create beautiful memories. Right next to it, a beautiful, colourful Musical Ferris-Wheel captivates the imagination. Only the sky is the limit!
There’s much to see everywhere you turn in the Old Taipa Village, from Largo Camões Fair with the Grooving Tram Station to the Carmo Fair with the Shining Tunnel. But whatever you do, don’t miss the Projection Mapping! Three shows will take place in Largo dos Bombeiros.
Enjoy Magic is featured between December 2 and 31, followed by Season Diffusion, from January 1 to 31, and A Dose of Lighting Dopamine, starting on February 1 until 25. You can enjoy the shows every 30 minutes from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Each mapping show will span about eight minutes, and the projection teams hail from Macao as well as the two UNESCO Creative Cities of Design – Seoul, Korea, and Wuhan, China.
Coloane Ambassadors
Calming and picturesque, Coloane has always been the perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy a peaceful stroll with your loved ones. During the Light Up Macao however, it’s already beautiful colours turn even brighter at night with unique light installations, and a special visitor, the adorable T-Boy mascot.
A T-Boy Hipster will be waiting for you at the Coloane Library with a lot of its friends following you along the way. At Coloane Pier, visitors will be welcomed by T-Boy Seafarer and its Companions too! But, as usual, the best is saved for last and there are some jaw-dropping Projection Mapping here too.
With two shows, the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier in Coloane will be transformed into pure magic. A Beacon of Light in a Macao’s Winter Night is on display until December 30 (with the exception of December 24 & 31), taking place every 30 minutes from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and then again during the whole month of January at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
The other show, Dazzling Winterland, can be seen from January 14 to February 25 at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
The mapping show will span about eight minutes. To see everything available in both Taipa and Coloane during the Light Up Macao, click here.
Take on the Light
There is way more than one way to participate in this incredible spectacle of light! For the creative in you, there will be plenty of opportunities to earn prizes should you care to participate! Simply post your best photos following these simple rules: use the hashtags #lightupmacao2023 or #ilumninarmacau2023 on your best photos, wait until get at least 20 likes and qualify for gifts and prizes!
And there’s more! The online game, “Dazzling Hunt,” hosted on the event’s website, introduces an interactive dimension that leads to a chance to enter the grand lucky draw!
Unveiled by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) is a WeChat MiniProgram, the “MGTO’s Interactive Zone,” designed for participants. Through engaging interactive games like “My Colorful Memories,” “Me and Macao,” “Dazzle Together,” and “Portal to Dazzling Colors,” this initiative promises an immersive experience, fostering a stronger link between the virtual realm and the live event.
To redeem your gifts or clarify any doubt you might have, there are a number of information counters around the city. Click here to know where you can find the nearest to you!
