Macao comedy festival opens

Bringing together top comedians from home and abroad, the five-day second Macao International Comedy Festival kicked off this week. The festival, being held in two venues, Hengqin, Guangdong province, and Macao, opened on Wednesday and will run until Sunday.

Peppa Pig's Fun Day Out!, a Mandarin stage adaptation of the popular British children's series, opened the festival and was presented by renowned comedy troupe Mahua Fun Age. The performance drew an enthusiastic audience, with kindergartners from across Hengqin and Macao filling much of the venue. Comedians Ai Lun and Chang Yuan also joined the event, offering insights into their creative processes.

On Thursday, the film section of the festival opened in Macao with the Asian premiere of Charlie Chaplin: The Spirit of the Tramp, a documentary offering an intimate look into the life of the world-renowned comedian and exploring his family ties and Romani heritage, which helped shape his iconic Tramp character.

Dolores Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter and a producer of the documentary, attended the screening. She expressed her hope that the film would be a meaningful way to introduce her grandfather's legacy to younger generations who may not be familiar with his work.

The festival will also feature events attended by comedy megastars such as Shen Teng and Ma Li, alongside filmmakers including Takeshi Kitano, Aamir Khan, Feng Xiaogang, and Xu Zheng.