The seventh China Art Festival will be held in this capital of east China's Zhejiang Province next year, organizers said here Monday.

The national art gala will open on October 12, 2003, in this scenic spot and performances will also be conducted in Ningbo, Shaoxing, Jiaxing and Wenzhou of Zhejiang Province.

Local sources say that the opening ceremony will be held in Hangzhou Theater, whose construction started on July 1, 2001. Construction of theaters in other host cities has already started.

Some 100 domestic operas, art performances and 10 foreign performances will be staged during the 12-day art gala. Exhibitions of photography, folk culture, books and archaeological items will also be displayed at the festival.

The sixth China Art Festival was held in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province in September 2000.

(People's Daily March 25, 2002)