Actually the competition has already started (8 to 13 Sept I think)...was passing by there yesterday around 8 plus and stayed awhile to watch (but sans gear)...there is a cordon running round the performance area....you would probably need a lens with a fairly long reach to capture the action by the lion dancers. The lighting is pretty bad IMO....spotlights are pretty glaring so you have to position yourself such that they won't shine into your lens. Lastly I believe the organisers do not permit flash photography (for safety reasons), but I did see some people holding compact digicams using flash anyway.