A mega international arts and cultural event, organized by the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government, is to kick off in April this year, the organizers said on Tuesday.

The event includes a series of exhibitions, dances, concerts and drama, as this year marks the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, the organizers said.

Two large-scale exhibitions are to be launched in the Macao Museum of Art from April. One of them is "Italian Renaissance Drawings from the British Museum," with a total of 52 drawings by Italian Renaissance masters. The other is "Beauty in the New Era," with 90 masterpieces by various contemporary masters from the collection of the National Art Museum of China.

In June, the mega event's highlight "Art Macao: International Art Exhibition" will kick off at the Macao Museum of Art to bring an immersive cultural atmosphere with the entire city as an art gallery and as art gardens. A series of concerts by the Macao Orchestra and the Macao Chinese Orchestra are also to be staged from June to October.

Meanwhile, the International Youth Music Festival, International Youth Dance Festival and International Youth Drama Festival are to be held in the latter half of this year to develop the city into a world-class exchange platform for culture and arts.