Good response: Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing tells the press only 100 tickets remain for the East Asian Games opening ceremony.

Only 100 tickets remain for the 2009 Hong Kong East Asian Games opening ceremony which will be held on Victoria Harbour December 5, Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing says. It will feature a floating stage for cultural performances and a vessel parade amid special light effects and a fireworks spectacular.

At a press conference today, Mr Tsang said the ceremony will be open to public access to spread the games' message to all and showcase Hong Kong's traditions and characteristics as a modern global hub.

He said public demand to see the ceremony has been high, with only about 100 tickets left. Ticket holders should be seated by 7pm for the ceremony. Others can watch the fireworks display on both sides of the harbour, including the promenades of Tsim Sha Tsui, West Kowloon, Central and Wan Chai. Giant television screens will be installed at these locations for the public to watch the live broadcast of the boat parade and the stage performances. Major shopping malls throughout the city will also organise celebration activities.

"We do not aim [to stage] a flamboyant ceremony adorned with special effects, but instead present the [games] and its opening ceremony as an event that allows all walks of life to participate," Mr Tsang said, adding the innovative ceremony will break the tradition of staging opening shows in sports stadia.

The company responsible for planning and producing the Beijing Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies will produce the event. It will start at 8pm and end at 9.30pm. It will feature ceremonial rituals, cultural performance Be the Legend, a boat parade by 44 big and small vessels and lighting of the games cauldron, and conclude with the fireworks display.

The floating stage will be set up off the Cultural Centre while two LED effect vessels and two lighting vessels will be placed near the stage.

Rehearsals will be conducted nightly from November 25. Vessels representing the nine participating countries and regions will be moored off the Wan Chai waterfront on December 6 for the public to take photos.