Economy
Hypefest Hong Kong 2024: An Unforgettable Weekend of Music, Art, and Community
Hong Kong’s first two-day outdoor music and cultural festival hosted by Hypebeast, featured 24 musical acts alongside a multitude of brand activations, art installations and interactive experiences.
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 December 2024 – Hypebeast, the leading global platform for contemporary culture and lifestyle, concluded Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 on November 9-10. Financially supported by the Mega Arts and Cultural Events (Mega ACE) Fund under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and supported by iMe Entertainment Group, Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 marked Hypebeast’s largest event in Hong Kong to date. Despite the impact of Typhoon Signal No. 3 and rain, the 2-day weekend event attracted over 28,000 festival-goers gathering at the Central Harbourfront Event Space – the city’s largest outdoor venue – to soak in the spectrum of contemporary and diversified cultures that Hypebeast had to offer.
“Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 is the largest initiative we’ve ever done in Hong Kong. We are excited to welcome all visitors from around the world to celebrate fashion, art, music, culture, and community over one amazing weekend. At Hypebeast, our mission is simple – to bring people together in meaningful ways. We are here to create authentic experiences that inspire everyone. And most importantly, we are here to give everyone an opportunity to express their creativity, passions, and dreams. Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 is truly the perfect venue to make this all happen,” said Mr. Kevin Ma, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Hypebeast Group.
“We are thrilled to support Hypefest Hong Kong 2024, a pivotal event that aligns perfectly with our vision for growth. Our commitment to expanding regional showcases, including music festivals, reflects our dedication to fostering vibrant cultural experiences. Together with Hypebeast, we aim to create unforgettable moments that celebrate creativity and community,” stated Mr. Brian Chow, Chief Executive Officer of the iMe Entertainment Group.
Over the course of the two-day event, Hypefest Hong Kong hosted 24 musical acts headlined by internationally recognized South Korean-born DJ Peggy Gou on the first day, and French electronic music duo, JUSTICE, who concluded the second day of the festival. Apart from the closing performances by the headliners, the music stage showcased a diverse combination of genres that featured a carefully-curated mix of international and regional performers such as ADOY, Awich, ONE OR EIGHT, Rich The Kid, sunkis and more.
In addition to the live performances, the festival was jam-packed with unprecedented and unconventional experiences. Exclusive collaborations stood out as a major highlight with limited edition “Sun Bleach” items with Jiyong Kim, PIET x Oakley and Prodip Leung collaborations, Wing Shya’s capsule, BE@RBRICK Audio’s Hypefest-exclusive speaker and music line-up merch by Peggy Gou’s PEGGY GOODS, as well as JUSTICE available at the flea market.
The festival was nothing short of things to see and do, with Coin Parking Delivery’s larger-than-life inflatable art installation, SIMON’s live-art painting, ASICS SportStyle’ pop-up experience where guests were welcomed with an immersive digital installation, Timberland’s “TIMBS it YOURSELF” customization workshop with Hypefest-exclusive shoe accessories, Mercedes-Benz’ G-Class display and more. Brand pop-ups featuring 432hz, LeeeeeeToy, PabePabe, Raw Emotions, Ballaholic and COSTS were reimagined through interactive carnival games, keeping festival-goers entertained and inspired throughout the weekend. Additionally, the majority of limited-edition collaborative products, including JUSTICE’s T-shirts, Hypefest-exclusive PEGGY GOODS collection by Peggy Gou, and the LABUBU figure created by Kasing Lung in collaboration with 432hz, quickly sold out within two days.
The food village also impressed the visitors with tantalising treats exclusively available at Hypefest Hong Kong 2024. Participating vendors including BaseHall presents: Draftland, Bengal Brothers, Devil’s Tea, Dionysus & Loong, Honbo, Jeonpo Meat Shop, Snack Baby and SONNY’s, who all presented their signature dishes and exclusive menus, making sure festival-goers were replenished and energised.
Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 was made possible by the financial support from the Mega ACE Fund under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Supported by iMe Entertainment Group, the leading entertainment company in Asia, the event offered a memorable and innovative experience to all attendees, while celebrating the vibrant fusion of cultures in Hong Kong.
For more information about Hypefest Hong Kong 2024, visit hypebeast.com and follow its social media channels for more.
Instagram:@hypebeast @hypefest
Hashtag: #hypefest #hypefesthongkong2024
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Hypebeast
Founded in 2005, Hypebeast is a leading platform for contemporary fashion and culture that highlights curated brands and emerging lifestyles through editorially-driven news and features. Its devotion to discovery has made it one of the premier online destinations for fashion and lifestyle editorial and news. Currently operating in over 15 markets, readers can stay up to date with the latest culturally-relevant news and developments on men’s fashion. For more information, visit Hypebeast.com.
About Mega Arts and Cultural Events (Mega ACE) Fund
The Mega ACE Fund set up by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau aims to attract and support international and large-scale arts and cultural events to anchor in Hong Kong. It targets mega arts and cultural events in Hong Kong organised by the private sector or non-governmental organisations, with a view to developing Hong Kong into an arts and cultural metropolis, providing opportunities for the arts and cultural sector to flourish, as well as fostering Hong Kong’s development as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.
Project Grant
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 only, but does not otherwise take part in it. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in the materials/activities (or by members of the Grantee’s team) are those of the organisers of Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
About iMe Entertainment Group
iMe Entertainment Group, the current leading entertainment company in Asia. Established in 2006 as a concert promoter and artist management company, iMe has since expanded to 10 countries, organized major events in more than 50 major cities in Asia- Pacific region.
Over the past 16 years, iMe has gradually developed entertainment contents consist of concert/live events, artist management, promotion & marketing, and fan base interaction platform, as being the key business elements. iMe committed to grow its scale with producing effective strategies of developing management teams, aiming to deliver innovative and best results for all business partners.
Economy
New FX Trading System Buoys Naira to N1,535/$1 at Official Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
The new foreign exchange (FX) trading system of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) known as the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) has continued to strengthen the Naira in the various segments of the currency market.
On Friday, the local currency maintained its positive run with a 2.0 per cent or N32 gain against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) to trade at N1,535/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N1,567/$1.
This happened despite a decline in the value of forex transactions at the official market yesterday by 38.8 per cent or $111.18 million to $175.15 million from the $286.33 million recorded a day earlier.
The EFEMS was put in place by the central bank to eliminate distortions and bring greater efficiency to Nigeria’s volatile foreign exchange market.
It was observed that in the spot market, the domestic currency appreciated against the British Pound Sterling during the session by N84.25 to quote at N1,960.61/£1 compared with the previous day’s N2,044.86/£1 and improved its value against the Euro by N66.90 to close at N1,624.41/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,691.31/€1.
In the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira gained N125 against the US Dollar on Friday to settle at N1,580/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,705/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive with the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum (ETH), crossing the $4,000 mark for the first time since March before it corrected.
The coin chalked up 2.0 per cent in the last 24 hours to trade at $3,978.16 as spot ether exchange-traded funds saw record inflows, suggesting high institutional interest.
Further, Ripple (XRP) increased yesterday by 3.9 per cent to $2.44, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 1.9 per cent to $741.66, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 1.5 per cent to $99,420.58, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 1.1 per cent to $1.21, Dogecoin expanded by 0.7 per cent to $0.4397, and Litecoin (LTC) inflated by 0.4 per cent to $136.67.
However, Solana (SOL) slumped by 1.3 per cent to trade at $235.85, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
Economy
Oil Market Slides Amid Supply Surplus Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market depreciated on Friday as analysts projected a supply surplus next year on weak demand despite the decision by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to delay output hikes and extend deep production cuts to the end of 2026.
During the session, Brent crude futures shed 97 cents or 1.4 per cent to trade at $71.12 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost $1.10 or 1.6 per cent to close at $67.20 a barrel.
For the week, Brent lost more than 2.5 per cent while WTI saw a drop of 1.2 per cent.
OPEC+ pushed back the start of oil output rises by three months until April and extended the full unwinding of cuts by a year until the end of 2026.
Weak global oil demand and the prospect of OPEC+ ramping up production as soon as prices rise have weighed on trading.
The alliance had already postponed twice the beginning of the output increase. January 2025 was set as the point from which producers would begin to add supply, but that has since changed due to a slowdown in global demand – especially from top crude importer China.
OPEC+, which is responsible for 50 per cent of the world’s supply, will also face competition from rising output elsewhere, which has forced it to postpone the plan several times.
On Friday, Saudi Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that the primary reason for OPEC’s deferral of the production increase to the start of the second quarter is that the first quarter in any year is a weak consumption period.
“The first quarter is not a good quarter to bring volumes,” Abdulaziz bin Salman said. “That quarter is known to be a quarter for building stocks.”
The deferral, while primarily motivated by fundamentals, would give OPEC+ a better view of China’s growth, Europe’s growth, US policy, interest rates, and inflation in key developed markets.
Bank of America forecast that increasing oil surpluses will drive the price of Brent to an average of $65 a barrel in 2025, while oil demand growth will rebound to 1 million barrels per day next year, the bank said in a note on Friday.
Also in a note, HSBC expects a smaller oil market surplus of 0.2 million barrels per day, from 0.5 million barrels per day previously.
Brent has largely stayed in a tight range of $70-$75 per barrel in the past month, as investors weighed weak demand signals in China and heightened geopolitical risk in the Middle East.
Economy
Nigeria’s Positive Trade Balance Grows 43.6% in Q3 2024
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria recorded another positive trade balance in the third quarter of 2024, growing 43.6 per cent as the country’s total merchandise trade stood at N35.2 trillion.
A positive trade balance (surplus) occurs when there is a higher export value than import as it stood at N5.8 trillion, in the period under review.
This represents an increase of 81.4 per cent compared to the value recorded in the corresponding period of 2023 and a rise of 13.3 per cent over the value recorded in the preceding quarter.
In the quarter under review, exports accounted for 58.3 per cent of total trade with a value of N20.5 trillion, showing an increase of 98 per cent over the value recorded in the third quarter of 2023 at N10.4 trillion and 16.8 per cent compared to the value recorded in Q2 2024 at N17.5 trillion.
Nigeria’s export trade continued to be dominated by crude oil exports.
In the third quarter of 2024, crude oil export was valued at N13.4 trillion representing 65.4 per cent of total exports while the value of non-crude oil exports stood at N7.1 trillion accounting for 34.6 per cent of total exports; of which non-oil products contributed N2.5 trillion or 12.2 per cent of total exports.
On the other hand, the share of imports accounted for 41.7 per cent of total trade in the third quarter of 2024 with the value of imports amounting to N14.5 trillion in Q3, 2024.
This value indicates an increase of 62.3 per cent compared to the value recorded in Q3 2023 (N9.0 trillion) and 8.7 per cent over the value recorded in Q2 2024 (N13.5 trillion).
China remains Nigeria’s highest trading partner on the import side in the third quarter of 2024, followed by India, Belgium, United States of America, and Malta.
The most traded commodities imported during the quarter were Motor spirit ordinary, Gas oil, Durum wheat, Cane sugar meant for sugar refinery and used vehicles, with diesel or semidiesel engines, of cylinder capacity >2500cc.
The top five trading export partners were Spain, the United States of America, France, the Netherlands and Italy.
The most exported commodities included crude oil, liquefied natural gas, other petroleum gases in a gaseous state, Floating or submersible drilling or production platforms, and superior-quality Cocoa beans.
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