Lunar New Year

The Lunar New Year is a 15 day festival beginning with the first new moon between the 21st of January and the 20th of February.

One of the most popular events during the new year celebrations in Hong Kong is the New Year Parade where you can see things from lung dragons to traditional Chinese dancers. The parade starts at 8pm and goes from Nathan Road to Salisbury Road to Canton Road and finally to Haiphong Road.

Unique to Hong Kong new years celebrations is horse racing. The Sha Tin Racecourse is usually filled with around one hundred thousand spectators during these events. The Hong Kong Jockey Club also organises a program of cultural festivities and entertainment.

The Spring Lantern Festival marks the end of the Lunar New Year. The whole city is decorated with colourful lanterns and a carnival is held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza where you can see impressive lantern displays as well as other performances like dancing and acrobatics.

Firworks over Hong Kong
New Year's fireworks display over Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.

(Michael Elleray from England, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Tin Hau Festival

Since Hong Kong has been an important harbour for a long time it's no surprise the Chinese sea goddess Tin Hau has historically been one of the most important gods for the area. As such, her birthday is accompanied by a grand celebration. While there are many different celebrations around the area the biggest one is in Cha Kwo Ling where people will parade down the streets in different costumes, some even dress up as mythological creatures like dragons or qilins and perform traditional dances.

Statue of Tin Hau
Statue of the goddess Tin Hau at Kwum Yam Shrine, Repulse Bay, Hong Kong

FlyingToaster at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Dragon Boat Festival

The dragon boat festival is a public holiday in Hong Kong where people race in long canoes made to mimic ancient war boats with up to 80 crew members rowing in the beat to a drum, the boats also have a dragon head mounted to the front hence the name “dragon boat”.

While there are several races taking place during the festival the CCB Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races in Victoria Harbour is the most popular with over four thousand participants from all over the world and up to thirty thousand spectators.

Multiple Dragon Boats
Dragon boat race in Hong Kong

Atmhk, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons