The theme of CityU's fifth annual cultural festival—Hands Across the Water—was chosen to reflect the many international cultures that were celebrated at the festival.

"Recent technological advances in communications don't eliminate misunderstandings between people of different cultures," said Professor Y S Wong, Vice President (Institutional Advancement) and Chairman of the Cultural and Sports Committee, which organized the festival. "We chose the slogan because we wanted to bring different ethnic groups of the world together," he said at the opening ceremony on 28 February.

The festival kicked off with an exhibition of ethnic costumes and silverware from nine Chinese minority groups and included Qing dynasty royal robes, Miao formal dress and Mongolian wrestling costumes, all from the private collection of Ms Lee Mei-yin, a project consultant with the Hong Kong Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Culture. A tree planting ceremony marked the opening of the perennial favourite, Wellness March, which promotes a healthy and positive approach to life.

The two-month-long festival featured music, dance, a film series, lunchtime cultural performances and a three-day conference titled "Cultural Traditions and Globalization: East and West", hosted by the Chinese Civilisation Centre. But perhaps the most talked about festival event was the World City Cultural Night extravaganza, which marked the official opening of Hands Across the Water. The 9 March event featured an array of multi-cultural performances, such as bagpipes, Indian dance, Australian poetry, Latin salsa and African drums and culminated in a dance party under the stars at the University Circle.