Must-Visit Guide to the Macau Light Festival

I've traveled to Macau quite a few times in the past two years. This December, I'm visiting again. Besides the comfortable cool weather, there are also many grand festivals all gathered in this last month of 2021.

The annual Macau Light Festival is always a highlight among Macau's grand festivals. This time, I happened to catch the opening day of the 2021 Macau Light Festival. This year's theme is 'Mars Wants to Travel.' The festival runs from December 4, 2021, to January 2, 2022.

The Macau Light Festival places different light installations in various locations across Macau. I personally highly recommend the Macau Science Center and Nam Van Lake Square for viewing light installations and projection mapping shows, as the installations there are more concentrated and interesting.

During the festival, from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM every night, there is a projection mapping show at the Science Center every half hour. The show projects light onto the exterior walls of the building, merging light and shadow with the architecture. Each show lasts about 5 minutes, but it feels stunning, with constantly changing images, making you marvel at how amazing high technology is, allowing our eyes to enjoy such beautiful scenes.

The theme 'Mars Wants to Travel' is about aliens from the 'Mars Family' who come to Macau to travel. Many light installations feature their figures. This 'Alien Party' tunnel has various funhouse mirrors. Standing in front of each mirror transforms your figure into strange shapes, giving a quite surreal feeling.

The 'Space Magic Mirror' at Nam Van Lake Square is very eye-catching. Using the principle of mirror reflection, standing underneath makes it feel like you are upside down on the building through the reflection, which is very amusing. It attracted many parents bringing their children to experience it. Each light installation allows queueing for interactive experiences. Just show your green Macau Health Code and have your temperature taken to enter the interactive area. There is also hand sanitizer provided on-site, which is very thoughtful, ensuring everyone can play safely.

In December, there is another performance worth watching: the 'Drifting Macau Drone Gala'! Drone performances will take place on December 4, 11, 18, 20, and 25 at 7:00 PM and 9:45 PM. Each performance lasts about 15 minutes, with different themes on the five nights. The best viewing spot is at Nam Van Lake.

This Drifting Macau Drone Gala features four teams: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Tianjin. On the opening night of the Light Festival on December 4, the first team to perform was from Shenzhen. They used 300 drones to display Macau's lotus flower, World Heritage buildings, and other characteristic elements in the sky above Nam Van Lake, illuminating Macau with a feast of light and shadow.

I also saw drone formations of Macau's tourism mascot 'Mak Mak' and a lion dance, which enhanced the festive atmosphere of the opening, prompting many people to pull out their phones to capture this beautiful moment.

Every time I visit Macau, I always go to Rua dos Ervanários for a cup of coffee, because it's a place where local Macau trendsetters often go for coffee. There are many coffee shops of different styles along the street.

Recently, there has been an event called 'Rua dos Ervanários Gathering' here. Many shops on Rua dos Ervanários are participating. By scanning a QR code to play an AR game, you can get coupons for some shops!

There are many recommended specialty shops along the street. 'The Literature Gate' is a very retro coffee shop that sells coffee and clothes, etc. You can first scan the QR code at the entrance for the 'Rua dos Ervanários Gathering' event to get a 20% off coffee coupon, then use it to buy coffee in the shop.

After spending, the shop will also give you a lottery ticket for the 'Rua dos Ervanários Treasure Hunt'. Scan the code to draw and get various coupons. Everyone can join this event to hunt for treasures!

Another shop, 'Pace', is also a very popular coffee shop among locals. This coffee shop offers a variety of coffee beans from different origins. I recommend the pour-over coffee; it's quite tasty.

The Macau Food Festival is also held annually. The 21st Macau Food Festival runs from November 19 to December 5, 2021, at the Sai Van Lake Square in front of the Macau Tower. There is even a free shuttle bus service, which is so thoughtful! You can take a free bus from the Nam Van International Bank Building directly to the entrance of the food festival.

The Macau Food Festival is divided into different cuisine areas: 'Chinese Food Street', 'European Food Street', 'Asian Food Street', 'Flavor Food Street', and 'Dessert Street', with a total of 117 food stalls, enough to satisfy your cravings!

The dazzling array of food gave me decision paralysis, not knowing what to eat first because I wanted to try so many dishes! You can definitely come in on an empty stomach and leave holding your belly full.

The atmosphere at the Macau Food Festival at night is completely different from during the day. The food street on Saturday night was packed with people, everyone queuing to buy delicious food—it really had that food festival vibe!

If you miss this year's Macau Food Festival, you'll have to wait until next year. But there will still be a chance to go to the Macau Food Festival!

In Macau, you can also visit some art exhibitions. This time, I checked out two annual art exhibitions and really liked the photos I took.

'Art Exhibition of China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries - Symbiosis,' running from November 11 to December 31. It displays artworks related to daily life. I didn't expect that the express boxes we often encounter could be considered art, as well as large black garbage bags with cute patterns and text painted on them. Location: Tap Seac Gallery.

'Art Exhibition of China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries - Embracing Diversity,' running from November 6 to December 31. I was deeply attracted by a wall hanging Portuguese old newspapers. The light streaming in at that moment turned the scene into an artistic photographic composition. Location: Macau Contemporary Art Center - Naval Yard No. 1.

Friends who like art exhibitions can also visit these two places. This annual art exhibition is quite good, ending at the end of December.

Traveling to Macau is very safe now. Crossing from Zhuhai or taking a ferry from Shenzhen only requires a negative nucleic acid test report within 7 days. For those flying from other mainland cities to Macau, a negative nucleic acid test report within 48 hours is required. No quarantine is needed for either direction, and returning to Guangdong only requires a nucleic acid report within 7 days.

Macau's entry policies are updated from time to time, so check the latest policies before traveling to Macau. I hope you also have a great time traveling in Macau!