Hong Kong Festivals – The Basic Lists of Festivities

Hong Kong Festivals – The Basic Lists of Festivities

Hong Kong is a very vibrant city, especially when it comes to festivals. It holds amazing festivals every year that give you a great chance to mingle with your loved ones, friends, coworkers. I always loved the festivals, in additional to some really cool facts, in Hong Kong for many reasons. Perhaps the main reason is Hong Kong stands at the crossing of Eastern and Western cultures so you have this amazing blends of life styles.

The city becomes vibrant, people are off from work, and there is always some place to go to enjoy the festivals. While this list is comprehensive, it is in no way complete, just too many festivals to enjoy!

Hong Kong Festivals – Tuen Ng Dragon Boat festival

This is a very colorful festival in which boat races are held, and my personal favorite! Remind me to tell you my story of reaching one of the yachts that was sponsoring a group of racers.

Boats are in the shapes of attractive and beautifully decorated dragons. It is normally held in June, but the dates and months can vary depending on the dates of the lunar calendar. The races are organized at ten different sites and attract the locals as well as tourists from different countries.

I normally enjoyed going to the back side of Hong Kong island to Stanley Beach.

Hong Kong Festivals – Mid-Autumn Festival

It is one of the biggest festivals in Hong Kong and is considered to be the second most important festival in China, after the Chinese New Year Festival. Fire breathing dragons, lantern displays and gorgeous lion dances are some of the biggest highlights of this festival. They also have some of the best snacks!

I’ll be writing more on this festival in another article. While The Dragon boat races were the most exciting, this for me was the most meaningful.

Hong Kong Festivals – Chinese New Year Festival

The Chinese New Year is celebrated with a lot of zeal and fervor each year. Different events are held in Hong Kong to celebrate it. Three days of amazing events are planned almost every year to enjoy this occasion. A fantastic parade and entertainment extravaganza is held close to the Victoria Harbor on 31^st January.

Another important event of this festival is the stunning display of fireworks. I love fireworks, so I eagerly wait for the Chinese New Year to arrive every year.

Hong Kong Festivals – Hong Kong Winter Festival

This festival is mainly held for attracting tourists to Hong Kong. The streets are decorated with beautiful lights, sales are held in almost all the stores and snacks are distributed amongst the locals. It is organized before the New Year every year.

Hong Kong Festivals – Hong Kong Shopping Festival

This is heaven for all the ladies. It is an amazing festival that is mostly held in August and offers something for everyone.

Hong Kong Festivals – Christmas

Christmas is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm in Hong Kong. The entire city is decorated with lights and Christmas trees. You can see Santa Claus distributing gifts amongst the children in shopping malls, and you get to enjoy discounted prices on goods and services as well.

One of the best places to visit in Hong Kong during this time of the year is Disney Land. Lots of entertaining events are organized there for kids.

Hong Kong Festivals – The Arts Festival

If you are an arts aficionado, then you’ll love this festival a lot. It was held for the first time during 1973, and has been organized annually since then. Ballets, operas, dramas and symphonies are the major attractions of this event. I attended a few performances last year and they were absolutely stunning!

Hong Kong Festivals – Horse Racing Festival

This is the most awaited festival by the enthusiasts of horses and gambling. It is celebrated mostly from January till July each year, but the timings can change.

This was really just a brief list but it contains some of the best and most interesting of the festivals and holidays in Hong Kong. I will be writing about more of them and also more in-depth, taking one festival and writing about it at length. So much of the festivals are tied to the culture and are very old in customs and traditions.

Enjoy!