The 8th China Arts Festival, the largest platform for Chinese performers to showcase their latest creations, opened Monday evening in central China.

State Councilor Chen Zhili announced the opening of the festival in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

The festival, held by the Ministry of Culture with the local government, was going to display "the latest major achievement and fruits of Chinese cultural and art sector over the past five years", said a spokesman of the organizing committee.

A total of 54 dramas from across the country would be staged during the festival and to compete for the "Wenhua" prize, the highest performance art award in China.

The spokesman said more than 500 shows and 32 exhibitions on Chinese arts would also be staged in the two-week festival, including 10 overseas dramas.

Aiming to create an "art pageant" and "festival of the people", organizers were required to sell low-price tickets no less than 15 percent of the total audience seats to locals, the spokesman said.

"Tickets of some performances only cost 20 yuan (US$2.63), and 20 museums and memorial halls of the city are to be opened free to the public," he said.

The festival, dating back to 1987, would witness more than 8,000 artists and actors on stage and more than 200,000 audience, according to the organizer.

(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2007)