The Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) has increasingly been pushing audiences to embrace the unfamiliar, and its 55th edition is certainly breaking new ground.On August 6, the first batch of confirmed highlights in the 2027 festival reveals that the finale will be performed by the State Ballet Company of the Astana Opera (Kazakhstan).Furthermore, while HKAF once brought over the likes of the Royal Shakespeare Company for classical renditions of the Bard’s works, this edition really leans into the trend of contemporary, mixed-genre adaptations, with four different programmes in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Then there is the continuing embrace of arts and tech, with a virtual Yuja Wang appearing as a hologram.Here are the highlights of the 2027 Hong Kong Arts Festival:Classical masterpiecesRafael Payare, music director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, will perform at the 55th Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2027. Photo: Antoine SatoOpening night