A concert featuring Chinese ancient poems and songs is staged at the opening ceremony of the ninth Ningbo Civic Culture and Art Festival, on Nov 21. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

The ninth Ningbo Civic Culture and Art Festival opened in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on Nov 21, according to local media reports.

The event, which is slated to run until Dec 31, will feature 100-plus cultural events across the city, including a comprehensive materials painting exhibition, a college students' music festival and a micro film festival.

Since its inception in 2014, the Ningbo Civic Culture and Art Festival has to date launched more than 1,600 activities that have been attended by over 10 million people.

As the largest cultural event in Ningbo, the festival has been playing a significant role in enriching the spiritual and cultural life of citizens and meeting the people's expectations for a better life.

This year, the festival comes as part of a flurry of events launched by the city to study and implement the spirit of the 20th Communist Party of China National Congress and fully showcase the diverse culture of Ningbo as a modern coastal metropolis, according to a head official at the Publicity Department of the CPC Ningbo Municipal Committee.