SHANGHAI, Oct. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2014 Shanghai Tourism Festival was held between September 13th and October 6th. The festival parade that was part of the opening ceremony brought together 24 performance groups from 16 countries and 22 uniquely shaped floats which put on performances along Huaihai Road, creating a visual feast for a wide range of visitors. Performers from Chile, Hungary and Austria participated in the festival parade for the first time. Over 75 per cent of the groups performing at the festival are from outside of China. The theme of this year's event is Welcome to Shanghai in Any Season. The festival features a series of events focused on Shanghai's tourist attractions, including sightseeing, tastings of Shanghai delicacies as well as several leisure-themed events.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Shanghai Tourism Festival. In addition to the traditional floats parade, the contests and the classical programs, including the Pujiang color boat parade and the Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival, this year's tourism festival includes the Cruise Tourism Festival, an innovative event that will inform visitors about developments in the country's emerging cruise sector by giving them a close-up experience of an actual cruise. In addition, the festival organizers have aggressively utilized new media tools to overcome all administrative hurdles and launch "Weiyou Shanghai", a hiking-themed online event. In concert with the local sports authority and in line with the "keeping fit" fervor that is gripping the country, the organizers are launching "The Color Run" jogging marathon, an event that will first be rolled out in Shanghai proper and then expanded to the entire Yangtze River Delta region. A particularly spectacular happening, the equestrianism event "Dressage in Shanghai" will make its debut in China and is expected to be a thrill for both local residents and tourists. In addition, the grand premiere of "The Bund", a musical adapted from the classic TV drama with the same name, will take place during the festival. The musical integrates the drama and excitement of a traditional Western musical with Chinese artistic elements, bringing back memories of Shanghai's Bund in earlier times.
According to statistics, 2014 Shanghai Tourism Festival is expected to attract more than 9.7 million visitors totally.
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