MACAO, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The 30th Macao Arts Festival, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government, kicked off here on Friday night, featuring a variety of dances, plays, concerts and other performances.

This year's festival was themed "a tribute to classics." The opening performance "Vertikal" was jointly produced by renowned French dancers and a world-leading hip-hop troupe.

During the arts festival, the dance show "Rain" by Belgian dancers will be staged. The play "Karl Valentin Kabarett" written by Karl Valentin will also be brought to Macao.

Meanwhile, the play "Mr. Ma and Son" adapted from Chinese author Lao She's classic novel will be presented during the festival.

The festival presents the closing performance with the classic Cantonese opera The Soul of Macao, bringing the history of Macao to the audiences.