Dancers perform at the closing ceremony of the 2019 Open the Gate of Art festival on Sunday. Photo: Courtesy of the Forbidden City Concert Hall

With a final performance by the National Ballet of China, the 2019 Open the Gate of Art festival came to a close in Beijing on Saturday. A total of 70 performances, 11 art summer camps and 12 art lectures were held in the capital during the 58-day festival.

An annual art event, the Open the Gate of Art festival has remained extremely popular among residents in the capital due to its high quality performances and education programs. According to the organizers, tickets for the opening ceremony sold out within six minutes, the remaining performances enjoyed an average attendance rating of more than 90 percent and more than 4,000 people attended the art lectures.

Many young aspiring musicians have been inspired by the festival over the years. 

Zheng Lirui, a Juilliard student and one of the performers at the festival over the past two years, said that the festival made him realize that he has a social responsibility to spread classic music and help more people come to love music and take part in it themselves.