Pu Tong, vice-director of the Bureau for External Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Culture speaks at the press conference of the 14th Meet in Beijing Arts Festival is held in Beijing, capital of China, April 8, 2014.[Photo/chinaculture.org]

Zhang Yu, president of China Arts and Entertainment Group, speaks at  the press conference of the 14th Meet in Beijing Arts Festival is held in Beijing, capital of China, April 8, 2014.[Photo/chinaculture.org]

The 14^thMeet in Beijing Arts Festival will be held from April 28 to May 25, as announced at a press conference held in Beijingon April 8.

During the festival, 190 pop bands and 22 performing arts groups from 33 countries and regions includingAmerica,UKandFrancewill present 60 theatrical events and 220 outdoor performances.

The arts festival, a comprehensive international arts festival at the State-level and the largest spring arts festival inAsia, represents a variety of elegance and popularity. At the opening performance, viewers will be able to enjoyEsprit Francais，a concert celebrating the 50^thanniversary of Sino-France diplomatic ties. Furthermore, a sequence of activities involving dances, concerts, dramas, festivals and exhibitions will also take place.

Related activities during Meet inBeijingwill also be held at several Beijing universities, includingPeking Universityand Tsinghua University. Thousands of people will be able to enjoy the first Caribbean Arts Season Concerts free of charge.

The arts festival is jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, the State Administration of Press Publication, Radio, Film and Television and the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, and presented by the China Arts and Entertainment Group and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture.

According to soft statistics, established in 2000, the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival has so far welcomed over 1,000 art groups and more than 30 thousand artists from 115 countries and regions from around the world.