Hong Kong Prepares for Spring With an Array of Events and Traditional Chinese festivals

As Spring approaches, Hong Kong is preparing for a variety of events and traditional Chinese festivals; exciting and colourful ‘happenings’ to which everyone is invited. Culture, entertainment and sport kick off the season, with the Hong Kong International Film Festival scheduled to take place 21 March to 6 April, the Entertainment Expo from 22 March to 18 April and the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens 2010 rugby competition from 26 – 28 March.

The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) is one of Asia’s most eagerly-anticipated showcases for filmmakers, film professionals and filmgoers from all over the world. It is an opportunity to experience outstanding films, attend glittering galas and meet the filmmakers. During this year’s festival – the 34th – over 240 titles from nearly 50 countries will be screened in 11 major cultural venues across the territory. The Festival is Hong Kong’s largest cultural event, reaching an audience of nearly 600,000, including several thousand business executives who attend Hong Kong Film and Television Market (FILMART), a concurrent event of the HKIFF. Full details at www.hkiff.org.hk.
Both HKIFF and FILMART are events that take place under the umbrella of Hong Kong’s Entertainment Expo, Asia’s multi-media extravaganza, now in its sixth year. The Expo consists of nine spectacular events covering a global mix of film, TV, music and digital entertainment. In addition to the two above-mentioned film events, the Expo will include the Hong Kong Film Awards, the Asian Film Awards, the HK-Asia Film Financing Forum, the HK Music Fair, the HK Top Sales Music Award, the HK Independent Short Film Video Awards and the Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum, events that will place the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the international limelight. (www.eexpohk.com)

It will be the turn of sports fans to flock to Hong Kong on 26 March, the date the Hong Kong Sevens 2010 rugby competition is due to kick off. The idea for this, the world’s premier Rugby Sevens Tournament, was in fact born in Hong Kong in 1975 and, through the ensuing years, it has become a major event with the world’s top teams participating. Canadian men’s and women’s teams are included in the 2010 roster and their participation is sure to create extra excitement for Canadian visitors during the tournament. All details and tickets at www.hksevens.com.

While entertainment and sports rule in March and April, May is the month for many of Hong Kong’s popular traditional festivals. The first – due to take place on 6 May – is the Tin Hau Festival, a celebration to honour Tin Hau, the ‘Goddess of the Sea’ and patron saint of fisherfolk. It is believed that, in honouring Tin Hau’s birthday, the coming year will be blessed with safe voyages, fine weather and full nets. The events are, of course, of great importance to all those who owe their livelihood to the sea. Celebrations will be held at Tin Hau temples all over Hong Kong, but it is in Joss House Bay, in Sai Kung, and Yuen Long, in the New Territories, that the most colourful festivities take place with colourfully decorated boats and parades featuring beautiful floral paper offerings and lion dances.

Next on the calendar – due to commence on 21 May for a week – is one of Hong Kong’s most unique festivals. It all happens on the tiny island of Cheung Chau, once the South China Sea home of many notorious pirates. In modern times, the reason and traditions behind this unique festival have long been forgotten, but that does not detract from its enduring popularity. A week of celebrations culminates in a carnival-like street procession featuring lion dances and costumed children who float on stilts above the crowd. The parade winds its way through the busy, narrow streets of Cheung Chau to the Pak Tai Temple, before which stand enormous bamboo towers studded with sweet white buns. At the stroke of midnight, as the crowd roars encouragement, athletes struggle to climb to the top of the towers for the luckiest buns and to claim victory in the contest.

The Birthday of Lord Buddha on 21 May is a quieter, more serious event, but no less interesting for that. During this special day worshippers show their devotion to Buddha by bathing his statues at major monasteries around Hong Kong. But it is the Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island that draws the biggest crowds for this is the site of the world’s largest, seated, outdoor bronze Buddha in the world. Visitors are invited to observe and to participate in the bathing ceremony, which is followed by a meal of sumptuous vegetarian dishes at the nearby monastery.

The birthday of another patron saint of seafarers – Tam Kung – will also be celebrated on 21 May. Similar to the Tin Hau festivities, seafarers and many observers come together to rejoice and to ensure good luck and safety in the coming year for is believed that Tam Kung has the power to calm the ocean. The festival is marked with considerable devotion and fanfare, especially at the Tam Kung Temple in Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island, an historic temple that dates from 1905.

Films and music, sports and traditional festivals, mean that Spring is an exciting season to be in Hong Kong. It is a time that caters to many tastes and interests … with enjoyment and excitement guaranteed, along with many happy memories. Information on all the traditional festivals can be found at www.DiscoverHongKong.com/canada

March 11, 2010   Posted in: Hong Kong