Auckland Base Band In Hong Kong
Base Auckland Band Goes To Honkers For The Year Of The Pig
By LAC Jeff Tribe,
Base Auckland Band
"The Band was honoured to be one of only 15 overseas groups invited to join with 25 local acts in a celebration that could honestly be described as a jaw-dropping spectacle."
Kung Hei Fat Choy! It means ‘Wishing You Prosperity’ in Cantonese – and it’s the greeting that flies around Hong Kong every New Year. It’s also a lot easier to type than pronounce!
WN 07-0035-68-tn.jpg: Group photograph of the Auckland Base Band after their Monday concert.
Auckland Base Band managed to get quite a bit of linguistics practice during our six-day visit to Hong Kong. In February the Band was asked by the Hong Kong Tourism Board to participate in their Chinese New Year Celebrations. As their guests, we would have all airfares, accomodation and arrangements for the tour taken care of. How could we refuse?
Most of the celebrations take part over the three-day period that marks the Chinese Lunar New Year. 2007 is a Year of the Pig on the Chinese calendar, but local myth claims this is a Golden Year of the Pig, which only happens once every 60 years. Basically, it makes a great excuse for throwing an even bigger party than usual!
WN-07-0035-63-tn.jpg: Colourful costumes, uniforms and floats were the order of the day when the Auckland Base Band visited for six days in Hong Kong in February to helping locals celebrate the Chinese New Year - the Golden Year of the Pig.
One of the highlights of this three-day event is a night parade through the streets of Kowloon. The Igugu Lakwa Zulu-Natal Cultural Group from South Africa, Flamenco dancers from Spain, the NFL Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders – just a few of the stars in a fantastic array that included martial artists, acrobats, lion dancers, dragons and incredibly ornate floats.
The theme of 2007’s parade was ‘Celebrate World Party’, and the organizers were keen for overseas and local groups to join in combined displays. So the Band joined with the 80-strong Hong Kong Police Band for choreographed performances of Latin Celebration in two special locations at the start of the route, outside the Cultural Centre. Right on the waterfront, before packed grandstands and TV cameras, with the spectacular lighting display of the Hong Kong skyline as a back drop.
WN-07-0035-64-tn.jpg.
And marching in the parade itself was definitely an unforgettable experience. Hong Kong has nearly 7 million people, most of them living in an area the size of Auckland Central – and it seems this is the night of the year they all decide to pack in to a 2km stretch of downtown Kowloon!
The Band played their signature tune, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines and stopped for two highlight pieces along the route with the cornets out front playing Twelfth Street Rag and St Louis Blues. But perhaps the real crowd-pleaser was a piece we had chosen especially for the occasion – Queen’s Road Hong Kong. It seems it’s Hong Kong’s equivalent to Ten Guitars, so we had the crowds singing the words as we passed.
WN-07-0035-69-tn.jpg: Hong Kong residents packed into a 2 km stretch of downtown Kowloon! The Band played their signature tune, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.
One of the biggest cheers the Band received on the parade was when we were halted on an overpass and the RNZAF Ensign Bearer, COABW Auckland WGCDR John Cummings, broke ranks and waved the Ensign to the huge crowd in the streets below.
In the two days after the parade all the overseas groups performed two short concerts in Kowloon. These were also great experiences with the Band performances being well received by the local audiences.
Read more, see our Central Band of the Royal New Zealand Air Force section.