With the city's ever-popular arts festival Le French May celebrating its silver jubilee this year, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust will again be its major partner, funding four delightful arts programmes as well as one educational initiative. One of the highlights of this vibrant celebration of French culture will be an exhibition of masterpieces from the world-famous Louvre Museum, which is also one of the signature activities for the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Today (13 March), the Club's Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung joined Under Secretary for Home Affairs Florence Hui, Acting Consul-General of France in Hong Kong and Macau Lilas Bernheim and Chairman of the Board of Le French May Dr Andrew Yuen to announce the details of this year's programmes, which carry the theme of "Celebrate Art and Life the French Way".

"The Club has a long-standing commitment to developing Hong Kong's arts, culture and heritage. We have supported many different cultural festivals, both large and small," Mr Cheung said, explaining that, apart from Le French May, the Club is also funding the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the much anticipated Lumires Hong Kong in November. In addition to expressing his congratulations to Le French May on its silver jubilee, he added, "We will continue to support many more world-class exhibitions and multi-art form programmes, in our endeavour to enhance the cultural richness and vitality of our city."

This is the sixth consecutive year that the Club has supported Le French May, and this time it is contributing over HK$9.9 million to support four arts programmes and one educational initiative being staged between May and July. They comprise:

Festival Opening: Royal Concert of the Night – "The Birth of the Sun King", performed by the globally-acclaimed Ensemble Correspondances;

Inventing le Louvre – From Palace to Museum over 800 years, an exhibition featuring over 120 priceless art works from the world-renowned Musée du Louvre;

Nicolas Buffe: The Dream of Polifilo, the debut exhibition of innovative French artist Nicolas Buffe;

Paris Ballet Legends: A Night with the Stars, an iconic classical ballet performed by stars from the Paris Opera Ballet together with dancers from Compañía Nacional de Danza and the Hong Kong Ballet;

Jockey Club Community Outreach and Arts Education Programmes, offering educational tours, workshops, masterclasses and free performances that reach the widest possible audience and contribute to the education of the younger generation. These programmes are expected to benefit over 36,200 participants.

In addition, the Club is sponsoring 1,500 complimentary tickets for disadvantaged students and the less privileged, and supporting programmes for audiences with visual or hearing impairment, thereby helping to share the delights of Le French May with a much wider audience.

For more information, please visit: http://www.frenchmay.com/.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a not-for-profit enterprise dedicated to community betterment. Through its integrated business model of world-class racing, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charity and community contribution, the Club generates substantial economic and social value and assists the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2015/16 the Club donated a record HK$3.9 billion to charity and paid a record HK$20.9 billion in tax. It is Hong Kong's largest single tax payer and one of the world's largest charity donors. Committed to global excellence and giving back to society, the Club is always "riding high together for a better future" with the people of Hong Kong.