Where to Go for Mid-Autumn Festival in 2023

Time flies and we are at Mid-Autumn season in Hong Kong this year. In this entry, I will share some information and photographs of the places to go to celebrate Mid-Autumn this weekend.

Since the pandemic, the lifestyle and spending habits of Hong Kong people have notably changed. The latest talks of the government have been about the revival of night life in Hong Kong. These days, the restaurants of Hong Kong close early because they simply have no diners after 8pm.

As a result, the government has been stepping up with its campaign to boost the mood for nightlife spending. Needless to say, the push to encourage people to go out at night is motivated by economic concerns. A whole lot of venues have put together Mid-Autumn festivities. Here are some of the better ones that we have visited. They are family-friendly events with a cool show of lantern adornments.

The Tai Kiu Wet Market of Yuen Long

This spot is for two groups of people: those who have children that genuinely want to shop for traditional hand-made lanterns to light up during the festival, and those who just want an instagrammable picture of a sea of colorful lanterns. We went during early evening on the Saturday before the Mid-Autumn weekend. The place was so crowded that we could barely walk through the few lantern shops there.

The Belcher Bay Promenade in Kennedy Town

The Belcher Bay Promenade has been fitted with really beautiful lanterns in an open space. In the weekend before Mid-Autumn Festival, there was a fair, and crowds gathered for fun and games. There are cute rabbit lanterns there and it is a perfect venue to take children to.

On a related note, I highly recommend the restaurant Sheung Hei in the vicinity of the promenade. Surely, on festive days and weekends, you must expect to line up for some 45 minutes to an hour for a table, but the food is very much worthwhile. Its specialty is clay pot rice but everything else is also wonderful.

The Wan Chai Pier

There is significantly less effort to make Wan Chai Pier a venue of celebration for Mid-Autumn Festival. There is only one spot with a rabbit seating area, and then another pavilion with some mid-autumn lanterns.

We did run into an expected show. A crowd gathered to see the remote model cars that enthusiasts brought with them to the pier. The model cars looked very realistic, and they were so cool to watch. The cars came with real engines (remote controlled), AV system, lighting, and LED display. The details are amazing. In fact, it is so realistic that they make the same warning signal sounds when they are backing up.

We were told that the cheapest model of the cars would cost HK$20,000. The more sophisticated one could cost $25,000 to $50,000.

The Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront

From Wan Chai Pier we boarded the ferry and crossed the Victoria Harbor. There were a few spots to see at the Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront. The decoration this year was rather on the abstract, with artistic installations that are moon-shaped. It makes a good picture with the Big Ben as its backdrop.

There is also a night market outside of the K11 Musea, but we learned too late and did not have a chance to see it.

The Fire Dragon of Tai Hang

We failed at our attempt at Fire Dragon. When we arrived there one hour before the show, we decided to have dinner first. By the time we were done with dinner, all the prime spots on the streets were taken. We figured that not only would we not be able to take pictures of the fire dragon, but also in fact we would not even be able to see it. The venue was packed that evening, and the police introduced crowd control. Some people could not even get into the neighborhood.

We left to visit Victoria Park instead. There was word that on the actual day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fire dragon would make a round from Tai Hang to Victoria Park.

For those who want to see the fire dragon, be sure to get there at least an hour early to secure a prime observation spot.

Victoria Park

Victoria Park is well-adorned for this year’s festivities. There are many colorful lantern displays there, with a wide variety of themes.

Hong Kong Park

There are some beautiful water lanterns in Hong Kong Park’s man-made lake. They are very nice but that’s about the only decoration there to be seen.