As if suffering the SARS outbreak wasn't hardship enough, now the people of Hong Kong are to be subjected to a big Westlife concert. The Irish boy band are among the artists lined up to perform at the Hong Kong Harbor Fest - a Toronto-esque four week music festival designed to announce to the world Hong Kong has fully recovered from the outbreak of the SARS disease there.
The Rolling Stones, Jose Carreras, Carlos Santana, Craig David, Taiwan pop sensation Jay Chou and boy band F4 are among the artists line up to play over the four weeks - many of whom were forced to cancel dates in Hong Kong during the SARS epidemic.
Announcing the festival James Thompson of the American Chamber of Commerce, who are co-producing the event, explained: "We thought we could all help Hong Kong recover by bringing some exciting, world class entertainment here," said, which is organizing the event with the government. We are trying to put Hong Kong back on the map. That's the entire thrust of relaunch effort because Hong Kong really did fall down badly with SARS," Thompson said.
The festival will take place at the outdoor Tamar site along Hong Kong's waterfront between 15 Oct and 9 Nov. The Hong Kong government will contribute HK$80 million towards the event providing half the tickets are sold.