The fourth Chinese Yue Opera Arts Festival, a quadrennial national event, will open in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province on the evening of Oct 12.

Co-hosted by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government, the art festival has been successfully held three times in Shaoxing, one of the cradles of the popular opera and also the permanent host city of the event since 2006.

This year, the organizing team of the festival has planned a host of opera-related activities amid efforts to build up its cultural influence.

Over the next two weeks, artists, critics and scholars from the opera industry as well as the internet and tourism sectors will be invited to discuss ways of integrating Yueju Opera into modern life and the development prospects of the opera in the eastern Chinese city.

Meanwhile, as part of the festival, 24 Yueju Opera plays will be staged at four theaters in Shaoxing and 40 opera shows will be presented to the public at eight squares in the heart of the city.

Tonight, the festival will open with the performances of Zhejiang's most popular Yueju Opera plays.

A poster of the fourth Chinese Yue Opera Arts Festival [Photo/cst123.cn]