Your ultimate guide to French May Arts Festival and French GourMay 2024

The festival opens with the Noir & Blanc – A Story of Photography exhibition at M+. This is the museum’s first special exhibition on photography in collaboration with the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). See more than 250 significant photos from BnF’s world-renowned collection alongside over 30 works from M+’s own collection. If you like the melancholic and dramatic quality of black-and-white photography, you’ll definitely enjoy this exhibition.

Bringing music and movement together, the Symphony of New Worlds performance sees conductor Zahia Ziouani leading France’s Divertimento Orchestra and the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong in performing classic dance masterpieces from around the world, while dance troupe Compagnie Käfig fuses hip-hop, breakdance, martial arts, and contemporary dance under choreographer and hip-hop artist Mourad Merzouki.

Other performances in the French May include a performance by renowned pianist Niu Niu and flautist Cocomi (the daughter of Japanese actor Takuya Kimura, incidentally); a range of collaborative Hong Kong and French theatre productions; and the 80s tunes-driven ‘musical’ Love Train 2020. Fans of jazz should also put The Two Sides of Thierry Maillard on their calendars for a duo of wildly different jazz concerts featuring various talented musicians.

This year, the French GourMay will be celebrating the tastes of Occitanie, a region in the south of France which includes the cities of Toulouse, Montpellier, Nîmes, and more. This large region that stretches from the mountains to the sea is well-known for gastronomic excellence with plenty of culinary specialities. Occitanie is also the largest wine-growing region in France, so get ready to try a range of wines boasting flavour palettes as diverse as this area’s landscape.

Throughout French GourMay, participating restaurants in Hong Kong will present carefully curated menus and dining promotions that highlight Occitanie’s culinary delights. Some of these specialties include foie gras, Roquefort cheese, and duck magret. Several online and brick-and-mortar shops will also offer special promotions on French wines and gourmet foods. In particular, wine lovers will be glad to find specially selected Occitanie wines covering appellations from Languedoc, Roussillon, Southwestern France, and Rhône Valley.

The joint festivals will run throughout the month of May, so make sure you have enough striped shirts and red berets to tide you through the French vibes. Aside from the major events in museums, theatres, and restaurants, Central Market and Nina Mall will each host French markets for four days. Visit Cheung Yee Street just outside D2 Place to find a range of stalls dedicated to French culture, art, traditions, as well as street food and pastries. Lastly, hit up the Happy Valley Racecourse for Happy French Wednesdays, which will bring together our world-class horse racing events with French food and wine.