Honored guests initiate the opening ceremony of the 15th Asia Arts Festival in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, Sept 23, 2017. The Festival kicked off on Saturday. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 15th Asia Arts Festival opened on Saturday night in Ningbo city, East China's Zhejiang province.

In addition to art performances and exhibitions, the festival will include a Lancang-Mekong cultural forum, in which culture ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China will gather to discuss exchanges and cooperation.

The Asia Arts Festival was first held in 1998 in Beijing, and the previous festival was held in Quanzhou in East China's Fujian province in 2015.

Statistics shows that over 300 art groups from more than 30 countries and regions in Asia have attended the festival over the past years.

This year's event, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Culture and the provincial government of Zhejiang, will last until Oct 23.