This year’s Cyclethon has been cancelled to allow the government and rescuers to focus their resources on rescue and relief efforts.
Cyclothon
Date: 30 November 2025
Venue: West Kowloon
Tickets: free
More info: registration www.discoverhongkong.com/cyclothon
The rides finish at the Jordan Road Flyover, and a Cyclothon carnival will be held at the West Kowloon Cultural District
Tai Hang Fire Dragon Festival
Date: 5-7 October, 2025
Venue: Tai Hang
Tickets: Free
Hot Air Balloon Fest Hong Kong
Date: 4-7 September 2025
Venue: Central Harbourfront
Tickets: $1,480, $1,080, $880, $680, $200, $150
More info:
Joey 容祖兒 HKlivemusic, HKconcert, Kenny 關智斌, Angela 許靖韻, Ken 洪卓立, Locksmiths 開鎖佬, Aiden 洪助昇, The Lemon Ones, Dark 黃明德, Heize 黃峻熙, ToNick, Endy 周國賢, Hedy 海兒, Andy 黎展峯, Daze in White, VIVA, Arvin 曾傲棐, SULIS, Leo 古巨基, Gin Lee 李幸倪, Vincy 泳兒, Andy 梁釗峰
The fly on the wall in the offices of the Hong Kong Tourist Board and the Chief Executive might be excused for pissing itself while listening to the discussions about the latest Hong Kong prommotional image…
All those tourists coming to Hong Kong looking for big balls and lots of action… finding none and leaving empty, longing and unfulfilled… Hong Kong’s strong ‘tourist satisfaction’ rating will become limp in the eyes of the world. With not even Jia Jia and De De able to raise some excitement.
Extravaganza!
Date: 20-29 June 2025
Venue: Central Harbourfront
Tickets: Free
Hong Kong’s twin panda cubs, born in August 2024, were finally named today, after a public competition which saw over 38,000 entries.
The winning names, Jia Jia (加加) for “Elder Sister”, and De De (得得) for “Little Brother”, were submitted by Lee Yuk Fan, and chosen by the judges who “opined that the names were rich in meaning”.
To quote the press release:
“Elder sister” is named “Jia Jia”, with the Chinese character for “Jia” (加) conveying the message of support. Having the same pronunciation as the Chinese characters for “home” (家) and “auspices” (嘉) in both Cantonese and Putonghua, “Jia” also features an element of family and a sense of auspicious grace, embodying the prosperity of families and the nation as well as the happiness of its people.
“Little brother” is named “De De”. As the Chinese character “De” (得) means “to succeed”, the name has the connotation that Hong Kong is successful in everything. “De” also shares the same pronunciation as the Chinese character for “virtue” in both Cantonese and Putonghua, suggesting that giant pandas, our national treasures, possess the virtues cherished by Chinese people.”
Images: Ocean Park
Hong Kong v Nepal
Date: 8pm, 5 June, 2025
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: tbc
Cirque du Soleil returns to Hong Kong this week with Kooza, a circus-themed extravaganza that has been extensively reworked since its first appearance here in 2018.
As Duncan Fisher, Chief Show Operations Officer of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, said at the launch, the Central Harbourfront venue is a stunning location: watch the sunset before the show commences, enjoy a night-time Star Ferry ride across the harbour afterwards while marvelling at the beauty of our home under lights.
There is something wonderful about seeing a show under the ‘big top’ – so different from our many bland concrete box venues with terrible acoustics – you feel part of the show. Especially since Kooza 2.0 is a much more engaging experience than the original.
While the underlying story remains the same. There are new acts – I don’t want to give too many spoilers here – and much of the cast has changed, bringing new and different skills to the show. The band is tight and sounds great under the big top.
After having been a Cirque ‘desert’ – 4 shows in thirty years – the future looks far more exciting with Mr Fisher saying that he hopes to bring a different show to the Hong Kong harbourfront every two years and establish Hong Kong as a signature Cirque city on a par with New York and London. Can’t you just ‘see’ senior government and HKTB officials making heart signs with their hands on hearing that!
If there’s one criticism of Kooza, it’s that there’s not an ounce of localisation to the show… How difficult would it be to tweak the clown parts to include a little play on the local stereotypes of each city visited? There is a ‘dog’ in the show which was funny – but I looked at it and thought with Hong Kong’s current panda obsession, how funny it would have been if it had been a panda…
Kooza’s season in Hong Kong has been extended to 13 July.
Images: copyright Simon Durrant
Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza
Date: 21 May – 13 July 2025
Venue: Central Harbourfront
Tickets: $1,988, $1,698, $1,298, $998, $758, $600, $450
More info:
Wednesdays: 7:30pm
Thursdays: 7:30pm
Fridays: 7:30pm
Saturdays: 1pm, 4:30pm, 8pm
Sundays: 1pm & 4:30pm
