Inter-island Festival: Here we go again!
Finally, COVID-19 has slightly weakened and everything gets more relaxed, so it’s time: the Inter-island Festival will be relaunched in 26-28 March!
Having postponed for twice, we have gained the experience that every window needs to be captured swiftly and tightly. That’s the reason why we decided to go for late March once we confirmed with our collaborators and sponsors. We apologise for the short notice and still hope to see you on the islands!
Having postponed for twice, we have gained the experience that every window needs to be captured swiftly and tightly. That’s the reason why we decided to go for late March once we confirmed with our collaborators and sponsors. We apologise for the short notice and still hope to see you on the islands!
Best,
Chun, Kit, Myriem
Organisers
Inter-island Festival
Welcome on board!
During 3 days, the Inter-island Festival sails in between Peng Chau, Mui Wo, Chi Ma Wan and Cheung Chau to celebrate our dear island life. With more than 50 collaborators from our islands and beyond, we offer a variety of activities for everyone to dive into the local life and embrace its subtle cosiness.
Fellow islanders, we hope you can take a break and appreciate with a fresh eye this familiar place you call home.
If you can spare the time, try to take the ferry and visit our neighbours! It’s always good to pay a visit to each other and remember what makes us and our culture so special.
And you dear visitor, is this your first time travelling on the inter-island ferry? Take a seat and let the flow guide you to the essence of the island life and the beauty of our landscapes. As you wander around, run into residents who are most friendly when their lifestyles and environment are respected.
Whether you are an islander or not, we hope you can all come together to appreciate, defend and further develop this treasurable character.
Shall we go?
We hope to see you on the islands or the ferry :)
Warmly,
Chun, Kit & Myriem
Peng Chau residents
Organisers, Inter-island Festival
Fellow islanders, we hope you can take a break and appreciate with a fresh eye this familiar place you call home.
If you can spare the time, try to take the ferry and visit our neighbours! It’s always good to pay a visit to each other and remember what makes us and our culture so special.
And you dear visitor, is this your first time travelling on the inter-island ferry? Take a seat and let the flow guide you to the essence of the island life and the beauty of our landscapes. As you wander around, run into residents who are most friendly when their lifestyles and environment are respected.
Whether you are an islander or not, we hope you can all come together to appreciate, defend and further develop this treasurable character.
Shall we go?
We hope to see you on the islands or the ferry :)
Warmly,
Chun, Kit & Myriem
Peng Chau residents
Organisers, Inter-island Festival
Q&A
1. What is a “Life Festival” (as the Chinese title suggests)?
It is a Festival about the insular life: its distinct environments, communities, histories and concerns, and the exchanges among and beyond these islands. Insular life is the inspiration, the essence and what we want to strengthen and enrich. We think calling this event a 'Life Festival' reminds and reflects our intent.
2. Small islands and art: You wanna be Setouchi?
When it comes to small islands Festival, we all have Setouchi in mind, which generally aims at revitalising abandoned islands. The context of the inter-island area is quite different: the islands are alive and blooming and that completely influences the shape and modus operandi of the Festival. Subtly, the Festival intends to use art as a medium to invite residents themselves and visitors to dive deep into the insular life.
3. What are the highlights?
Chairs, buffalos, tricycles, zi zaat pavilions, trees, you name it! They appear most suited to reveal our islands’ ordinary culture. Our collaborators are architects, artists, illustrators, performers and local organisations who will play with this culture and showcase it in an original way.
4. How to join? How will the Festival work?
Some specific activities, such as workshops and tours, require your advanced registration, while others welcome walk-ins. Activities will be going on at the four locations at the same time. You can simply mix and match activities depending on your interests and schedule. Take the time to explore the islands on your own and look for hints of a peculiar lifestyle… (check out our maps of the islands :)) The activities are scheduled to match the inter-island ferry times for you to hop from one island to another more easily in a day. Try to stay on the islands for a day or even more to better experience the insular life. We hope you can really try!
5. What is so special about the islands?
Outer islands are isolated pieces of lands mostly connected by ferries (less for Mui Wo). This isolation nurtures distinct urbanscapes, nature and cultures on each of these islands. What makes them stand out from most other islands is their relative closeness and connectedness to the city centre - Central is less than an hour away by ferry! This easy-to-reach isolation and preservation of nature is yet another wonder of Hong Kong that really deserves recognition - one of the reasons why we want to put up this Festival.
6. Festivals are just consumerist events. How can you hope to foster change with a Festival?
Inter-Island Festival wants to draw its own direction by anchoring into local grounds, revealing local strengths and building from them. It brings local residents, actors, organisations, and others to meet and start new collaborations, paving the way for traditions to adapt to contemporary needs and have a future.
7. What is your position towards gentrification?
We cannot stop a river from flowing, but we can divert its bed.
As the islands become more visible, they attract flocks of new residents, rental prices rise and the local spirit seem to vanish away. We cannot stop people from moving in, but we believe we can show them how to appreciate and adapt to the local culture, and build a common awareness for all residents to participate and benefit from it.
8. So you wanna have more tourists on these islands huh?
The islanders - those who live on these islands - are our primary beneficiaries and the activities we plan aim to strengthen the connections on each island and between them.
We are aware the islands are becoming a more popular destination for tourists, and residents may have adverse feelings towards this. Rather than rejecting the tourists (which is not so feasible), we propose to invite them to consider the islands’ own cultures, environments and respect their specific lifestyles. By hopping from one island to another, we can (re)discover invaluable landscapes and seascapes and the people who live by them. We believe it is important for non-islanders to have an opportunity to change their perspective on Hong Kong’s extremely diversified nature, lifestyles, cultures, and tourism, for its leisurely and relaxed nature, can be an efficient medium.
9. Why do this?
We want people to embrace and understand the values of the insular life by actually experiencing it. We call for people on these islands and in the city to contribute to the protection of this insular culture in their own ways.
10. Who are you? Who is behind?
We are three Peng Chau Kai Fongs who have lived on Peng Chau for a few years. Seeing the changes happening now and in the future, we would like to organise a festival to connect everyone.
It is a Festival about the insular life: its distinct environments, communities, histories and concerns, and the exchanges among and beyond these islands. Insular life is the inspiration, the essence and what we want to strengthen and enrich. We think calling this event a 'Life Festival' reminds and reflects our intent.
2. Small islands and art: You wanna be Setouchi?
When it comes to small islands Festival, we all have Setouchi in mind, which generally aims at revitalising abandoned islands. The context of the inter-island area is quite different: the islands are alive and blooming and that completely influences the shape and modus operandi of the Festival. Subtly, the Festival intends to use art as a medium to invite residents themselves and visitors to dive deep into the insular life.
3. What are the highlights?
Chairs, buffalos, tricycles, zi zaat pavilions, trees, you name it! They appear most suited to reveal our islands’ ordinary culture. Our collaborators are architects, artists, illustrators, performers and local organisations who will play with this culture and showcase it in an original way.
4. How to join? How will the Festival work?
Some specific activities, such as workshops and tours, require your advanced registration, while others welcome walk-ins. Activities will be going on at the four locations at the same time. You can simply mix and match activities depending on your interests and schedule. Take the time to explore the islands on your own and look for hints of a peculiar lifestyle… (check out our maps of the islands :)) The activities are scheduled to match the inter-island ferry times for you to hop from one island to another more easily in a day. Try to stay on the islands for a day or even more to better experience the insular life. We hope you can really try!
5. What is so special about the islands?
Outer islands are isolated pieces of lands mostly connected by ferries (less for Mui Wo). This isolation nurtures distinct urbanscapes, nature and cultures on each of these islands. What makes them stand out from most other islands is their relative closeness and connectedness to the city centre - Central is less than an hour away by ferry! This easy-to-reach isolation and preservation of nature is yet another wonder of Hong Kong that really deserves recognition - one of the reasons why we want to put up this Festival.
6. Festivals are just consumerist events. How can you hope to foster change with a Festival?
Inter-Island Festival wants to draw its own direction by anchoring into local grounds, revealing local strengths and building from them. It brings local residents, actors, organisations, and others to meet and start new collaborations, paving the way for traditions to adapt to contemporary needs and have a future.
7. What is your position towards gentrification?
We cannot stop a river from flowing, but we can divert its bed.
As the islands become more visible, they attract flocks of new residents, rental prices rise and the local spirit seem to vanish away. We cannot stop people from moving in, but we believe we can show them how to appreciate and adapt to the local culture, and build a common awareness for all residents to participate and benefit from it.
8. So you wanna have more tourists on these islands huh?
The islanders - those who live on these islands - are our primary beneficiaries and the activities we plan aim to strengthen the connections on each island and between them.
We are aware the islands are becoming a more popular destination for tourists, and residents may have adverse feelings towards this. Rather than rejecting the tourists (which is not so feasible), we propose to invite them to consider the islands’ own cultures, environments and respect their specific lifestyles. By hopping from one island to another, we can (re)discover invaluable landscapes and seascapes and the people who live by them. We believe it is important for non-islanders to have an opportunity to change their perspective on Hong Kong’s extremely diversified nature, lifestyles, cultures, and tourism, for its leisurely and relaxed nature, can be an efficient medium.
9. Why do this?
We want people to embrace and understand the values of the insular life by actually experiencing it. We call for people on these islands and in the city to contribute to the protection of this insular culture in their own ways.
10. Who are you? Who is behind?
We are three Peng Chau Kai Fongs who have lived on Peng Chau for a few years. Seeing the changes happening now and in the future, we would like to organise a festival to connect everyone.
Organisers
Inter-island Festival is initiated by Myriem Alnet, Chan Chun-kit and Yip Kai-chun. They have lived on Peng Chau for a few years.
Myriem is an urbanist; Kit is one of the founders of Sun Sat Store on Peng Chau; and Chun is an artist-curator. Kit and Myriem have founded ‘ISLANDERS’, a zine on the island cultures, and Chun has organised small-scale art events on Peng Chau before.
They want to take one step further to contribute to the islands.
Organisers
Myriem Alnet
Chan Chun-kit
Yip Kai-chun
Correspondent (Cheung Chau)
Vanessa Lai Wing-yan
Correspondents (Mui Wo)
Chan Hei-man
Kay Ng
Art direction & web design
Studio Orbit
Pamphlet & signage design
4res
Content Writer & Editor
Adrian Si
Myriem is an urbanist; Kit is one of the founders of Sun Sat Store on Peng Chau; and Chun is an artist-curator. Kit and Myriem have founded ‘ISLANDERS’, a zine on the island cultures, and Chun has organised small-scale art events on Peng Chau before.
They want to take one step further to contribute to the islands.
Organisers
Myriem Alnet
Chan Chun-kit
Yip Kai-chun
Correspondent (Cheung Chau)
Vanessa Lai Wing-yan
Correspondents (Mui Wo)
Chan Hei-man
Kay Ng
Art direction & web design
Studio Orbit
Pamphlet & signage design
4res
Content Writer & Editor
Adrian Si
Acknowledgement
Supported by:
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Local Supports:
Peng Chau:
甜蜜蜜、寶記凍肉公司
卓威地產、愉景（南昌）市場 、快車茶餐廳、鳳香餅家 、Island Table、寶記凍肉、嫦姐、蘇先生、石記海鮮、Siyamon Thai Cooking、坪洲晶石坊
Mui Wo:
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Cheung Chau:
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F&B Sponsors:
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Special thanks:
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Local Supports:
Peng Chau:
甜蜜蜜、寶記凍肉公司
卓威地產、愉景（南昌）市場 、快車茶餐廳、鳳香餅家 、Island Table、寶記凍肉、嫦姐、蘇先生、石記海鮮、Siyamon Thai Cooking、坪洲晶石坊
Mui Wo:
Cheung Chau:
F&B Sponsors:
Special thanks:
