Chinese artists made their debut at the 2015 Dias Festival in South Africa’s Mossel Bay. An art troupe of 27 performers brought traditional Chinese performing arts to the annual event for the first time ever.

The festival also featured other performances such as an airshow, fireworks displays, and a racing competition. The Dias Festival is dedicated to commemorating Bartholmeu Dias, a Portuguese explorer who sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa and landed on the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.

Under the theme of “Where Cultures Meet”, this year’s Dias Festival welcomed cultural delegations from a total of nine countries, including China, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and India. 2015 also marks South Africa’s ‘China Year’.

After the festival, a series of cultural exchanges will follow to give the people of South Africa a better understanding of China and its culture, and enhance the friendship between the two nations.