Hong Kong’s annual Lunar New Year parade is back after 5-year hiatus, with record-breaking 16 overseas dance groups to join event
“We have brought together some of the world’s hottest performers to the party to spice up the celebration and transform this traditional festival into an international mega event.”
The parade is a fixture of the Lunar New Year holiday and was last held in 2019. The event was cancelled over the past five years as a result of anti-government demonstrations and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The board said the event would feature 16 international performance groups and another 13 local ones. Acts taking part in the procession included Japanese female pop dance group Avantgardey, Spain’s the Light Dancers and German troupe the Universe of Lights, it added.
Tourism board splashes out HK$42 million on Lunar New Year carnival
The parade will use the same route as past iterations, starting from the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, going along Canton Road, Haiphong Road and Nathan Road, before ending at the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers.
The board said it was confident the event would still be able to lure in residents and tourists, despite a drop in visitors and a rise in Hongkongers heading elsewhere over the Christmas holiday period.
Official figures show Hongkongers made more than 1.05 million outgoing trips from December 24 to 26, compared with 1.08 million over the same period in 2018.
But local immigration authorities only processed 360,000 inbound trips by people over the same three days, down 18 per cent from the 428,000 recorded over the 2018 festive break.
Hong Kong security chief to review packed border crossings after festive fireworks
Raymond Chan Chan-man, a general manager with the board, expressed confidence that the event would attract revellers, given its long hiatus.
“Since we have actually not organised this event for five years, so actually a lot of locals, as well as tourists have been expecting this event,” he said.
“And in fact, for the whole Chinese New Year promotion, besides the parade on the first day of the [festive season], we also have a series of events around Chinese New Year to make our tourists stay longer.”
The event line-up would include displays of the parade floats, which would be open to viewers for two weeks after the event, Chan added.
The board general manager said it would hold a meeting with various government departments to ensure efficient crowd control arrangements, after thousands of mainland Chinese tourists earlier struggled to get back across the border after watching the New Year’s Eve countdown in Hong Kong.