Bars in spooktacular rise from the dead

Squid Gamers were out in force at the city's night spot Lan Kwai Fong over the Halloween weekend, but some operators said the crowds were not enough to boost sales amid social distancing measures.

The director of the Lan Kwai Fong Association, Anthea Cheung So-may, said this year's business has finally picked up for bars, restaurants and clubs in Lan Kwai Fong after the social unrest in 2019 and the pandemic since last year. Cheung expected more than 100,000 people to have visited Lan Kwai Fong from Friday to yesterday to celebrate Halloween.

Many Halloween revelers wore green tracksuits like the contestants of the popular Korean Netflix series Squid Game or wore reddish-pink jumpsuits as the armed guards of the series.

A 19-year-old man, Derek who dressed as a guard, said a police reminder not to use imitation firearms had made his costume less realistic as he did not carry any props.

A woman, whose nickname is "pink rice," said she is not concerned about the reminder as her prop is a toy gun.

Others also dressed as Cruella, princesses, witches and Japanese anime characters.

Aside from the three-night celebrations that have contributed to the sales boost, Cheung said several months of zero local infections and distribution of consumption vouchers have also boosted public consumption.

Leung Lap-yan, founding president of the Licensed Bar and Club Association, expected the sector to see a 20 percent increase in turnover compared to last year due to an increase in vaccination rate and vaccine bubble measures.

A staff member at Fire n Ice bar said: "Although this year's Halloween business has shown a 40 percent improvement from last year, business is still affected by social distancing measures as customers are not allowed to dance under the influence of music and drinks."

Aldrin Ang, general manager of GRAM restaurant and a membership-based club at LKF Tower, said restaurant sales yesterday were expected to be about 60 percent more than the average day.

Ang said police had inspected premises in Lan Kwai Fong more regularly in October, adding the restaurant had been diligent in following anti-epidemic measures.

"If we are not diligent, we could be closed for 14 days, which is not good for business," Ang said.

A staff member from Chao Chow restaurant said the Italian eatery was fully booked on Saturday night and expected the sales on Halloween to be more than 20 percent better than last year.

The restaurant was not fully booked yesterday, but fewer customers on a Sunday is within expectations as people have to work on Monday, the staffer said.

Ms Rai, manager of Carat Fine Indian Cuisine, said this year's Halloween sales were only a few thousand dollars more than last year.

She said only a few tables were booked and business was still affected by the lack of tourists.

At dinner time yesterday, the path to Lan Kwai Fong on D'Aguilar Street was already filled with people and police were on both sides of Wellington Street.

Several officers were seen standing on the corner of Stanley Street near Lan Kwai Fong to stop and search pedestrians.

Police said on Facebook they would close the road and conduct crowd control measures.