City of Magic

In 1998 Happy Valley Shenzhen staged its first large-scale original magic gala, Happy MD. Work on the production began that March. It was conceived as a large-scale song-and-dance magic drama for the central theatre of Happy Valley, then a new tourism attraction of Overseas Chinese Town; the M in the title stood for magic and the D for dance. Overseas Chinese Town set demanding requirements for the choice of director, magic designer, choreographer, set designer, lighting designer and sound designer, and nearly a hundred dancers were recruited from across the country. Fu Tenglong drew the construction drawings for the production, and regarded it as a new kind of work that was neither traditional magic nor conventional dance. The park's own plaque records the gala as "pioneering in the magic performance of domestic theme". At the time, Happy Valley itself was still a building site.

In 1999 Happy Valley Shenzhen presented its second large-scale original magic gala, Dreamland Divine Comedy. The gala took tourism culture as its starting point, and its structure and forms of presentation differed from those of an ordinary stage magic gala. It brought together magic, dance, acrobatics and other elements, and became the closing item of each day at Happy Valley. Fu Qifeng assisted Happy Valley in creating the gala.

The 1st International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held in 2000 under the theme "Developing Tourism Culture, Promoting the Art of Magic", opening at the same time as the 1st National Magic Competition of the China Acrobatics "Golden Chrysanthemum Award". The festival ran from 26 September to 5 October. By one account it was organised by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Acrobats Association, with Happy Valley Shenzhen as host; by another, the Guangdong Acrobats Association was among the organisers as well. The Japan Magic Association, Black Hat of Taiwan, China, and the Hong Kong Magicians Association were among the bodies invited, and magicians from more than ten countries, among them the United States, Sweden, France and Russia, came to the park; the programme was made up of four kinds of activity — a national magic competition, an international magic showcase, international magic lectures, and an international exhibition and sale of magic props. The competition drew 250 magicians from more than ten countries and regions, and Happy Valley described it as the highest-ranking and largest-scale magic competition held up to that time. Dreamland Divine Comedy, the Happy Valley gala, won the Special Award at the competition. Lu Chen came to Shenzhen for the magic festival from this edition onwards.

In 2001 the 2nd International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held, under the theme "Change, Change, Change — Joy Without Limits".

In 2002 the 3rd International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held, under the theme "A Magical Journey, Boundless Wonder". The edition was mounted jointly by Happy Valley Shenzhen and Quyuan Zatan, a programme of China Central Television, and 40 magicians from 14 countries took part. In the same year the park introduced the large-scale magic drama Magic Rose, and the escape artist Dean Gunnarson completed an escape from three metres of water at the park's Pita Sea.

In 2003 the 4th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held, under the theme "Magic Skies, a Galaxy of Stars", with magic from Las Vegas in the United States as its drawing card.

In 2004 the 5th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held under the theme "A Major Event in the World of Magic, a Whirlwind of Illusion". At a press conference, the office of the organising committee of the municipal cultural industry fair and the Happy Valley Shenzhen tourism company announced that the festival had been taken into the 1st Shenzhen International Cultural Industry Fair of China as one of its large-scale themed cultural festival events, and that it would run at Happy Valley from 1 October. From that point Happy Valley described the festival as a "cultural symbol" of Shenzhen. More than 30 magicians from 11 countries and regions, among them the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, took part; the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily put the figure at more than 40 magicians from 12 countries and named Harary of the United States, Jorgos of Greece and Ivan Neiqipulanke of Russia. Lu Chen performed interactive magic for visitors during the edition. Albert, then Prince of Monaco, came to Happy Valley in a private capacity to watch the festival. The same year Happy Valley launched a new large-scale original magic gala, Light of Magic.

In 2005 the 6th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held under the theme "Creating a World-Class Feast of Magic". Twenty-five magicians from 11 countries and regions took part, and the programme included large-scale illusion pieces and street close-up magic. The first Happy Valley Shenzhen International Magic Forum was held during this edition. In September of the same year the headquarters of the Asian Magic Association settled at Happy Valley Shenzhen; the unveiling ceremony was held at the same event as the press conference for the sixth edition. In the years that followed, Happy Valley gradually became the association's base.

In 2006 the 7th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held under the theme "Magic Happy Valley, Joy Without Limits". On 4 October the edition was still running. In the same year the Asian Magicians Association convention was held in Shenzhen.

In 2007 the 8th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held under the theme "Ever-Changing Wonders, Limitless Magic", with more than forty magicians taking part. The edition opened in May, and Eric Eswin, president of the International Federation of Magic Societies (FISM), attended and gave an address. The Canadian escape artist Dean Gunnarson performed an escape on the Happy Valley Mine Train and completed it within 55 seconds. The same year the original magic-themed scenario drama Phantom Traces was launched. In October FISM presented Happy Valley Shenzhen with the "FISM Special Honor Award". Happy Valley stated that the award recognised its model of "professional performance plus interactive performance for ordinary visitors".

In 2008 the 9th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held under the theme "Magic Champions from Ten Countries, Ten Years of Happy Valley", in the year that marked ten years since Happy Valley opened. Dozens of magicians from ten countries and regions, among them the United States, Canada, Russia, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, were in residence. The performances were divided into two gala shows, "Magic Masters Showcase" and "Global Magic Champions Show", with more than thirty street magic performances each day in addition. Those who appeared included Brett Daniels, Danny Cole, Richard Forget, Christopher and Ruxian.

In 2009 the 10th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held under the theme "Magic All-Stars, the Magic Dream Factory", presented in the name of the National Day and the tenth anniversary of the magic festival. The 1st "Happy Valley Cup" International Magic Elite Invitation Tournament was held as part of this edition, with the support of the International Federation of Magic Societies, the Asian Magic Association and the Guangdong Acrobats Association, and with FISM president Eric Eswin as honorary chairman. The edition took place in October, the FISM president was present, and the first prize in the competition went to Liu Bei. Issue 42 of 2009 of the CCTV programme Quyuan Zatan broadcast the edition's gala under the title "International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen"; those who appeared were Jeremy Pei, Serguey and Oksana, Jeff McBride, Li Xingqi, Jorgos Katsaros, Jerry, Liu Bei and Ruxianguli. The same year the cartoon magic scenario drama Illusion City was launched, which Happy Valley described as the first panoramic cartoon magic scenario drama in the country.

In 2010 the eleventh edition of the International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held jointly with the 2010 Shenzhen International Tourism Festival, its full title being "2010 Shenzhen International Tourism Festival and the 11th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen" and its theme "A Grand Gathering of Magic, a Stylish Shenzhen". The festival ran through the National Day golden week; more than forty magicians from twelve countries and regions took part, and the opening gala was held at the Happy Theatre. During the National Day holiday Peter Marvey performed large-scale flying magic in public in China for the first time. On 28 September Tony Hassini, president of the International Magicians Society, presented Happy Valley Shenzhen with the Merlin Award for the best magic festival in China. The award was given by the International Magicians Society (IMS), and Happy Valley described it as the "Oscar in Magic Industry". The award's English name was "Best Magic Festival In China", and the recorded recipient was Liu Guan Hua of Happy Valley Shenzhen.

In 2011 the 12th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held over the National Day golden week under the theme "Joy to the Fifth Power, Magic Arrives". The Dutch Hansen trio, with Ruxianguli and Robin as special guests, performed the "Supreme Magic SHOW" at the Happy Theatre as the festival's closing act each day. Dozens of magicians, among them Nick from the United States, Keno from Britain, Christie from Belarus and Jose from Cuba, appeared daily on the street stages. On 15 May the International Magic Festival of Happy Valley Shenzhen received the title of one of the "2011 Top 10 Festivals of International Influence", which was conferred by the 2011 China Brand Festivals and Conventions.

In 2012 the 13th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held under the theme "Extreme Escape, a Journey of Magic". The escape artist Dean Gunnarson completed an escape on "Snow Mountain Coaster", a launched roller coaster newly built in the park; it was his third escape performance at Happy Valley. Greg, a magician from Las Vegas, brought this edition's closing act, Magic Secrets.

In 2013 the 14th International Magic Festival was held in Happy Valley Shenzhen under the theme "Magic Champions from 15 Countries Celebrate Happy Valley's 15th Anniversary". The headline gala, Magic Miracle — World Magic Champions Show, brought Fu Yandong, Topas, Soma, Jan & Jesper and Valery Bastrakov onto one stage. The Hong Kong magician Li Hangqi set a Guinness record at this edition with fifteen costume changes in sixty seconds. Happy Valley presented the original magic gala Magic SHOW 2.0. The 2nd "Golden Magic Kid" Youth Magic Competition, organised jointly by the Publicity Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles, opened at Happy Valley. On 10 January that year the Happy Valley magic act Xiuse (Beauty in Bloom) took the Grand Award in the art category of the 9th Guangdong Lu Xun Literature and Art Award; Happy Valley stated that this was the first time a magic act had received the award. In March the People's Daily called Happy Valley "a stronghold of magic" and recorded that the festival had run for thirteen editions since the first one in 2000, with more than 430 international magicians from 70 countries taking part and close to 3.3 million visitors attending. In the same year the feasibility study report on establishing the China (Shenzhen) Magic Art and Cultural Creative Industry Base was finalised.

In 2014 the 15th International Magic Festival and the "Happy Valley Cup" International Magic Competition were held in Happy Valley Shenzhen under the theme "Carrying On the Classics, a Golden Age of Magic". On 8 May the Happy Valley branch venue of the 10th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened, and the large urban theme magic scenario Dream Shenzhen was performed publicly. The next day the International Forum on the Development of the Magic Culture Industry was held in Shenzhen, where Bian Faji, chairman of the China Acrobats Association, said in his concluding remarks that Happy Valley already met the conditions for establishing a magic cultural and creative industry base. During the fair Happy Valley signed a strategic cooperation agreement on magic with the Asian Magic Association. On 1 September the scenario magic act Dream Shadows, by Happy Valley's "Magic Radiance" group, won a gold award at the 2nd Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Magic Festival in Guangzhou. On 28 September three plaques — the "Chinese Magic Cultural and Creative Industry Base", the "Magic Cultural and Creative Industry Base in Guangdong province" and the "Shenzhen Magic Cultural and Creative Industry Base" — were unveiled at Happy Valley, which described the move as "the first case of an industry association and an enterprise working together to create a cultural industry base". From 1 to 7 October, 14 magic acts from more than ten countries and regions competed for the "Happy Valley Cup".

In 2015 the 16th International Magic Festival was held in Happy Valley Shenzhen under the theme "66 Renowned Magic Masters Celebrate the Motherland's 66th Birthday". From 1 to 3 May the 9th National Magic Competition of China Acrobatics "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" was held in Happy Valley Shenzhen, the second time the competition had taken place in the park. Seventeen acts entered, and the China Acrobats Association and the base added two further prizes, the "Chinese Classical Magic Inheritance Award" and the "Chinese Magic Newcomer Award". On 1 May the China Acrobats Association presented Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town Co., Ltd. with the "Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Chinese Magic Culture Award". During the National Day holiday the 6th "Happy Valley Cup" International Magic Competition was held, with entrants from the United Kingdom, Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Thailand, and from Hong Kong and Beijing.

In March 2016 the Publicity Department of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee placed the Happy Valley International Magic Festival in the Shenzhen Cultural Innovation and Development 2020 Implementation Plan. On 11 May, at the opening ceremony of the Happy Valley sub-venue of the 12th Shenzhen International Cultural Industry Fair of China, Happy Valley signed an agreement with the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles under which the two would jointly host that year's International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen. The magic industry base also drew up a plan for a "Shenzhen International Magic Festival" to be jointly hosted by the municipal federation and Happy Valley. Over the National Day holiday the 17th International Magic Festival and International Youth Magicians Competition was held in Happy Valley Shenzhen, on the theme "Classics Passed Down, Magic Distilled". Dozens of magicians competed over two days to decide the crown, and the winners gave performances and interactive street shows through the Golden Week. Happy Valley described the competition as having been founded that year.

In 2017 the 18th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held, pairing a competition with performances. Contestants came from the United States, Italy, Russia, Ukraine and Japan, and from Hong Kong and Macao, competing for the title of "International Youth Magician". The competition invited judges from bodies including FISM, the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques, the Chavez College of Magic in the United States, the joint IBM–SAM international magic convention in the United States, the Asian Magic Association and the China Acrobats Association. In June that year a series of events under the name "2017 Guangdong–Hong Kong Magic Exchange Conference Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Hong Kong's Return" took place at Happy Valley, with more than thirty magicians from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan taking part. Happy Valley stated that the festival had by then run for eighteen editions, and that close to 500 international magicians from dozens of countries and regions had appeared in it.

International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen · 19th edition

2018 was the twentieth anniversary of the Happy Valley brand. The park held the 19th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen and staged the finals of the 10th National Magic Competition of China Acrobatics "Golden Chrysanthemum Award", the third time the competition had come back to Happy Valley. It was hosted by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Acrobats Association, and organised by the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Acrobatic Art Centre of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Shenzhen OCT Happy Valley Tourism Company. This edition added live semi-finals for the first time, opening at the Happy Valley parks in Shenzhen, Chengdu and Beijing on 29 April, 2 May and 6 May, from which 24 acts went through to the finals. The finals ran from 1 to 4 October, opening on the 1st, competing on the 2nd and 3rd and closing on the 4th, and Xin Yafei's Dream of the Fan took the Magic Act Award. Events around them over the Golden Week included a magic art and culture exhibition, a forum on innovation, creation and industrial development in Chinese magic, a magic salon, and the large urban magic scenario Magic Show 2.0.

Shenzhen International Magic Festival (municipal) · 1st edition

The municipal Shenzhen International Magic Festival was founded in 2018, and from then on the two festivals ran side by side. In January that year it held a press conference at which three magicians performed.

International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen · 20th edition

In 2019 the 20th International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held, together with the "Happy Valley Cup" International Youth Magic Competition. The festival ran from 20 September to 7 October and took place at the same time in the Happy Valley parks of seven cities: Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan, Chongqing and Tianjin. More than 70 young magicians from over 30 countries and regions along the Belt and Road took part in the competition, which closed on 22 September and gave its highest award to 10 individuals or groups and awards of excellence to 15. Lu Chen served as the image ambassador for the edition, and the National Day performances ran from 1 to 7 October. In the same year the "New China Acrobatics and the 70 Years Achievement Exhibition" toured to Happy Valley Shenzhen, and the large-scale urban-themed magic drama Dream Show opened to the public.

Shenzhen International Magic Festival (municipal) · 2nd edition

The municipal Shenzhen International Magic Festival held its second edition from 28 January to 28 February, with the closing ceremony on 24 February; the opening and closing ceremonies moved from Happy Valley to the Shenzhen Children's Palace. The programme included 30 magic lectures held in the city's communities, a Spring Festival grassroots magic programme, a magic-props exhibition carnival, a "Magic Light over Shenzhen" programme of performances by Chinese and foreign magicians, and the seventh "Golden Magic Child" youth magic exchange conference.

International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen · 21st edition

In 2020 the 21st International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held. Its full title as announced was the "2020 Happy Valley Shenzhen Magic Festival and China-Chic Art Carnival", its theme was "China Is Trending", and it ran from 1 to 8 October. The edition invited young magicians from across the country, who gave dozens of up-close magic shows throughout the park, and alongside the magic performances the programme took in China-chic content.

Shenzhen International Magic Festival (municipal) · 3rd edition

The municipal Shenzhen International Magic Festival held its third edition, which opened on 25 December 2020 at the theatre of the Shenzhen Children's Palace and closed on 28 February 2021, running for more than two months. It was organised by the China Acrobats Association, the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Chinese Magic Cultural and Creative Industry Base, with the Shenzhen Acrobats Association as executive organiser. Its sections were a training course for university magicians from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao together with university magic performances, a youth magic competition, an international youth magic exchange conference, the Happy Valley Spring Festival Comedy Festival, community magic performances, an online showcase of selected magic acts, and a showcase by magicians from across the country; online views came to more than one million.

International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen · 22nd edition

In 2021 the 22nd International Magic Festival in Happy Valley Shenzhen was held, announced to the public as the "2021 Happy Valley Shenzhen Magic Festival and China-Chic Carnival". From 1 to 7 October it presented close to 40 up-close magic performances throughout the park, and Secret Realm and Red, both winning acts at the 11th Golden Chrysanthemum Award, returned to the stage. Earlier that year, from 1 to 5 May, the 11th National Magic and Fun Competition of Chinese Acrobatics "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" took place in the park, organised by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Acrobats Association; 28 magic acts and 11 comedy acts reached the finals, and Shenzhen's Secret Realm took the Magic Act Award with the highest total score. This was the fourth time the national magic competition of the Golden Chrysanthemum Award had been held at Happy Valley Shenzhen, and the accompanying park programme running alongside it was called the "2021 Happy Valley Shenzhen Acrobatics Carnival", carrying no magic-festival name. The honours wall inside the park took one year plaque each year, 24 in all since 1998; the last of them is this edition, and no plaque was added to the wall after it.

Shenzhen Magic Festival (municipal) · 4th edition

The municipal Shenzhen Magic Festival opened its fourth edition on 10 December at the MixC World theatre. The name of that same edition was written two ways: an October notice gave it as the Fourth Shenzhen International Magic Festival, while the December opening report gave it as the Fourth Shenzhen Magic Festival.

Happy Valley Shenzhen

At National Day in 2022 the event in the park was announced to the public as the "2022 Happy Valley Shenzhen China-Chic Festival"; the on-site report carried neither the words "magic festival" nor any edition number, and what was left were single acts such as the King of Comedy close-up magic show and gucai xifa (classical Chinese magic). At National Day in 2023 the park put on the "Happy Valley Shenzhen 25th Anniversary Magic Gala", with a street magic troupe and a hundred performances and Magic Show as its headline production; this too was not called a magic festival.

Shenzhen Magic Festival (municipal) · 4th and 5th editions

The fourth edition of the municipal Shenzhen Magic Festival had been planned to run for one month with close to 20 sub-events, and in fact continued into October 2022; the fifth edition opened on 17 December 2022 and closed on 25 May 2023, with 18 events online and offline.

Happy Valley Shenzhen

From 18 to 22 June 2024 the 12th National Magic and Fun Competition of Chinese Acrobatics "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" was held at Happy Valley Shenzhen; 24 magic acts and 9 comedy acts reached the finals, Shenzhen's Mengda Hehu and Winning Glory won awards, and this was the fifth time Happy Valley had hosted a Golden Chrysanthemum Award competition. From 25 to 28 September the 2024 Asian Magic Convention of the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques (FISM) was held in the park; it received 67 acts from 10 countries and regions and offered 18 awards in 6 stage and close-up groups, the results being used to compete for a place at the world magic championship in Turin, Italy, in July 2025. By the park's own account, Happy Valley had been holding the International Magic Festival since 2000 and had held twenty-two editions.

Shenzhen Magic Festival (municipal) · 6th edition

The sixth edition of the municipal Shenzhen Magic Festival opened on 8 November and closed on 27 November, with 8 programme blocks and close to 20 events at the MixC World theatre and the Nanshan Culture and Sports Centre, and more than a million viewings online; it was hosted by the China Acrobats Association, the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Chinese Magic Cultural and Creative Industry Base, and organised by the Shenzhen Acrobats Association.

Happy Valley Shenzhen

As of September 2026, the festivals page of the Happy Valley website listed five festivals — the Shining Joy Festival, the Surprise Trend-Toy Festival, the Summer Wave Carnival, the China-Chic Culture Festival and the New Spring Joy Festival — and the magic festival was not among them; the site's magic festival page was still there, its content ending with the 2016 edition.

Shenzhen Magic Season (municipal) · 7th edition

The seventh edition of the municipal festival ran from August to November, and from this edition it was renamed the "Shenzhen Magic Season", with 12 programme blocks and close to 70 events; the festival had originally been named the "Shenzhen International Magic Festival" and was founded in 2018. It opened from 20 to 23 August at the Shenzhen Women and Children's Building with a series of close-up magic performances; the twelfth "Golden Magic Child" junior magic exchange followed on 20 and 21 September, the fifth Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao university magicians' training course on 18 and 19 October, and the eighth "Golden Magic Ring" youth magic exchange on 7 and 8 November; it closed on 9 November at the Grand Theatre of the Longgang Cultural Centre with a national showcase of selected magic acts. Not one of this edition's venues was inside Happy Valley.