The Honorary Gala of China International Candy Season Opened at Beijing Shougang Park

On September 23^rd, the “Honorary Gala of China International Candy Season — Sweet Dream Starry Night” was held grandly at Beijing Shougang Park. The Gala was guided by China National Food Industry Association, hosted by Confectionery Profession Committee of China National Food Industry Association, Beijing Shougang Construction Investment Co., Ltd., China Fortune Media Group and Beijing 798 Culture Technology Co., Ltd., undertaken by Beijing Shougang Sports Culture Co., Ltd. and Beijing Shangshang Tianhe Culture Media Co., Ltd., and assisted by Guochuan Guorun (Hainan) Technology Co., Ltd., and Beijing Tongdao Exhibition Display Co., Ltd.

The highly anticipated results from the “2025 Favorite Candy Brands among Consumers” Selection were unveiled on this site. Moreover, through an innovative fusion of immersive stage play performance, award ceremony as well as song-and-dance performance, the audiences were presented with a “Sweet Feast” that combined industrial prestige with cultural warmth.

The Performance Scene at the “Honorary Gala of China International Candy Season — Sweet Dream Starry Night”

In his address, Mr. Qiu Yinfu, Deputy Secretary of CPC Party Committee, Director and General Manager of Shougang Group, stated that this China International Candy Season integrated culture, science, technology and consumption, represented a profound exploration for innovative reutilization of Winter Olympics heritage and industrial relics, and thereby stood as a vivid practice of Shougang's commitment to supporting the high-quality development in national brands and food industry of China. In the future, Shougang Group would uphold its positioning as a science and technology park, remain steadfast in expanding and reinforcing its future digital space industry cluster. It would aim to create a new landmark for urban revitalization up to higher international standards, and turn into a vital hub for the capital's urban functionality.

The results from the “2025 Favorite Candy Brands among Consumers” Selection were unveiled on site. This selection aimed to carry out the development philosophy of “Three Transformations” so as to promote the confectionery industrial leap from “Made in China” into “Branded in China”. The event engaged 22 renowned domestic and international confectionery enterprise participants, including both time-honored brands and innovative player and spanning from traditional hard candies and chocolates to health-focused gummies and other categories. A total of six major honors were established in this selection, including “The Industrial Enterprise Leader”, “The Favorite Brand among Consumers” and “The Innovation Exemplar in Healthy Formula”. Among those participants, Hsu Fu Chi, Ma Dajie, Baobao Xiongdi, Guanshengyuan, Amos and Want Want stood out by virtue of their exceptional quality and innovation capability, thus setting benchmarks for the industry.

A highlight in the Gala was Sweet Dream Starry Night, an original immersive stage play. As one of the “Great Plays in Beijing” Series, Sweet Dream Starry Night centers on the core concept of “Sugar as the courage source”. It conveys the themes of warmth and personal growth through the fantastical journey of four candy fairies in human dreams. Notably, the play employs a “Fantasy + Reality” narrative technique, and caters to audiences of diverse ages and backgrounds. It has achieved its goal of “Warming the audience’s hearts through art”, and thereby elevated the social value of cultural work.

Through its scriptwriting process, the play not only recreates the urban memories of Peking during the Anti-Japanese War in the audience through the story of that war, but also showcases the contemporary value of Shougang Park as one of those "Industrial Landmarks of Beijing" through the industrial story. In this way, it not only achieves both thematic diversity and innovative expression, but also conveys the inclusiveness and vitality of modern Beijing, thus advocating for a “Diverse and Inclusive” urban culture. The play aligns with the core requirements on premium theatrical works set in the “Great Plays in Beijing” Series: Keep extending the artistic value chain, present diverse new scenarios and formats in emerging performance spaces, shape the new cultural landscape of Beijing, and take a lead in the new trend of cultural consumption. It contributes to constructing a matrix of artistic masterpieces with distinctive Beijing features.

At the meantime, Sweet Dream Starry Night further taps into the potential of “Architecture as Medium” on the urban stage through new script adaptation and optimized technological employment, thus transforming the old industrial spaces in Shougang Park from “Historical Relics” into “Interactive, Perceptible and Memorable” cultural carriers. This “Industrial Heritage + Cultural and Art Performance” model not only brings about a demonstrative paradigm for cultural space innovation in Beijing, but also engages more interests from tourists and art enthusiasts in Shougang Park. Such practice promotes an integrated development in “Cultural Tourism + Literature and Art”, and further enhances the overall influence from cultural spaces in Beijing.

It is reported that this China International Candy Season, opened on September 10^th,  has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors already. Many of those well-renowned candy brands have taken part in this event, and ten functional zones, including intangible cultural heritage workshops and interactive experiences, have created immersive consumption scenarios. A series of events themed on “Sweet China — Engaging the Love Worldwide to Chinese Sweets” will run through November 16^th. A new industrial ecosystem integrating “Culture, Science, Technology and Consumption” has been established through the linkage between Shougang Park and 798 Art District.