The 2023 University Student Music Festival, held in Ningbo on Oct 5, ends with a performance by Two Romans, a Swiss Pop-Rock band. [Photo/Ningbo Daily]

The University Students Music Festival, an annual musical celebration in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, has ignited the passion of both local students and those from afar.

The University Student Music Festival has attracted more than 23 million participants since its launch in Ningbo in 2018 and has offered opportunities for college students across the city to showcase their talent and challenge themselves.

This year's music festival was held at Jiulong Lake in the city's Zhenhai district on Oct 5. In addition to an exciting array of performing groups from universities in Ningbo, including Ningbo University, Ningbo University of Finance and Economics, and the Zhejiang Fashion Institute of Technology, this year's event featured online performances by Ningbo students studying aboard.

The event's theme song, "Orange Sea Wind", was released during the festival. The song was a collaboration between a band from Ningbo University and students at the Berklee College of Music in the United States.

"I was inspired by the sea of Ningbo, as I walked along the coast there once. As I enjoyed cool sea breeze and orange sunset, I got the idea to depict what youth is like," said Zhang Hansheng, one of the collaborators on the song.

"We included the sounds of airplanes and sea wind in the song. These are our memories of the city," said Jiang Leyao, the arranger of the song, "It is an invitation letter written by a Ningbo youngster to the world."