These Are the Best Lunar New Year Events in Hong Kong for 2025
Ring in the year of the wood snake with colourful parades and family-friendly celebrations across the city.
Cathay International Chinese New Year Night Parade
Hong Kong’s much-anticipated annual night parade will begin in the evening, kicking off the Year of the Snake on January 29. The parade features a whole host of exciting entertainment, along with floats and performers from 14 different countries.
Within the parade, floats from Cathay Pacific, Disneyland and the Hong Kong Jockey Club will appear, while the long list of entertainers includes the Shaanxi Performing Arts Troupe, South Korean K-Pop group Kep1er and Samba Passion, a dance group from New Zealand.
There will also be a pre-parade street party event that will include live music, bands, and lion dancing. The parade will begin at Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui, with the first floats arriving on Canton Road at 8:30pm and Nathan Road around 9pm. Although ticketing viewing zones are now sold out, the parade can still be enjoyed for free along the route.
For those who miss the fun, from January 30 until February 13, floats from the Cathay International Chinese New Year Night Parade will also be on display at Lam Tsuen Wishing Square in Tai Po, where the famous wishing trees will be waiting for visitors to hang their wishes for the new year.
Hong Kong Lunar New Year Fireworks
On the evening of January 30, visitors should arrive early to get a clear view over the water for the dazzling firework display which will be lighting up the city on both sides of Victoria Harbour. The event isn’t ticketed and viewing is free - there is also a wide selection of rooftop bars and restaurants from which to admire the city skyline in style.
Lion Dance at The Peninsula
Still going strong after 40 years, The Peninsula’s Lunar New Year lion dance is one of Hong Kong’s best Lunar New Year events and includes a vibrant performance of nine lions and a dragon. The dance begins in the morning on January 29 and symbolises prosperity and good fortune for the year ahead.
Luckily, it’s not a once-a-year event, as a second lion dance will also be happening on Saturday, 1 February. Although the lion Dance at The Peninsula is one of the most popular performances to watch, lion dances will take place throughout the city, including in Ngong Ping Village, throughout the festive period.
Lunar New Year at Sha Tin Racecourse
On January 31, one of Hong Kong’s most significant annual races takes place at Sha Tin Racecourse, the Chinese New Year Raceday. Along with enjoying the races, there will be lion dance performances, entertainment and live music. Locals will be familiar with the yearly revelry but for visitors keen to get in on the action, tourists can enter the public enclosure for free this year by showing a valid travel document at both Sha Tin and Happy Valley.
Browse the blossoms at Victoria Park
Explore one of the most beautiful Lunar New Year traditions in Hong Kong in the week leading up to the big celebrations on a visit to Victoria Park, which holds the biggest flower market in the city. Fresh flowers signify health, prosperity and growth and there are more than a dozen flower markets to explore if you have time.
In Causeway Bay, Victoria Park becomes a spectacle of colour with stalls selling flowers and fruit, along with entertainment, child-friendly activities and hot food stalls. The meaning behind each flower varies - the most popular blooms are the moth orchid, signifying good luck; lucky bamboo for bringing family joy, and winter jasmine, which brings good fortune. The second biggest market is located in Fa Hui Park in Mong Kok, one of four major flower markets that pop up on Kowloon.
There are dozens more exciting events happening during the Lunar New Year, including local traditions that visitors can partake in, such as exchanging lai see (red envelopes) and burning incense at local temples - the biggest gathering occurs at Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple on Chinese New Year’s Day.
Restaurants and bars throughout Hong Kong will also be serving up special menus specially crafted to kick off the Year of the Snake for those keen to experience Hong Kong’s unique gastronomy and cultural traditions.
