LNY fireworks display set for grand revival

Eunice Lam

The Lunar New Year fireworks display will return to Victoria Harbour on February 11 after a four-year hiatus, as the administration is seeking sponsors for the show.

The return of the spectacle comes after authorities last month held the National Day fireworks for the first time in five years, attracting more than 430,000 spectators lining up on both sides of the harbor.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department requires organizations that wish to sponsor the fireworks display to submit applications on or before next Thursday.

The fireworks display is held annually on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

But the last time Lunar New Year fireworks dazzled across the Hong Kong skyline was in 2019, attracting about 300,000 spectators.

The fireworks for the following three years were canceled due to social unrest and the Covid pandemic.

This year's Lunar New Year fireworks were also canceled despite the lifting of Covid restrictions. The administration said this was due to inadequate preparation time that normally takes two to three months.

"Despite there having been adjustments to the anti-epidemic measures recently which have allowed the staging of more large-scale activities in society, this year's Lunar New Year Fireworks Display could not be organized in time," the authorities said at the time.

The 2018 show was also canceled due to a fatal bus crash in Tai Po, which resulted in the deaths of 19 passengers and injuries to 60 others.

Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Tourism Association, expects next year's Lunar New Year will see more tourists than the over 1.1 million who visited during the National Day Golden Week holiday.

"I think the number of tourists in the Lunar New Year holiday will be more than, or similar to, that in the National Day Golden Week, as our tourist figures have continued to grow in recent months," he told The Standard.

"Even back in the pre-pandemic days, we could already observe a trend that more and more mainland tourists would visit Hong Kong during the Lunar New Year holiday, and I think the trend will continue next year."

He added that the tourism industry has been busy preparing for the upcoming Christmas peak season.

Chui said Hong Kong is expected to see over 30 million tourists this year, but it is still behind the 2018 level of some 65 million. He estimates the tourism sector will see a full recovery by next year or 2025, when international flights increase further.