A citizen poses for a group photo with clowns at the closing ceremony for the 2019 Hainan Island Carnival on Dec 31. [Photo/Hainan Daily]
A key event for the Hainan International Tourism Consumption Year, the 2019 Hainan Island Carnival concluded in the capital city of Haikou on Dec 31, 2019 after 19 cities and counties in the province had staged 272 activities.
The 40-day festival is the largest so far, and won praise from both local residents and tourists.
At the closing ceremony held at the Haikou Movie Town - a cinematic theme park joint venture by Mission Hills, Chinese director Feng Xiaogang and film producers the Huayi Brothers - a projection show, a clown carnival, performing arts and other exciting New Year's activities were put on.
Hainan cities and counties of Haikou, Sanya, Luzhou, Qionghai, Wanning and Lingshui were granted the "Best Organization Award" for the festival.
The festival, having been hosted for 20 consecutive years, has become a calling card for Hainan's iconic festivals and cultural tourism. This year's event was hosted at the key hub when the province is speeding up its pace to promote Hainan Pilot Free Trade Port construction and the construction of an international tourism consumption center.
In addition to the regular activities carried out in previous sessions, this year's festival launched a special "Performing Arts Week", and held cultural and sports activities such as Hainan Digital Sports Entertainment Carnival and Hainan Holographic Music and Light Show to further promote the in-depth integration and development of tourism and sports.
This festival also continued to combine tourism exhibitions with local events, such as Hainan World Leisure Tourism Exposition and the Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival , and to promote industrial development and tourism consumption.