The best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend (Feb 21-23)

Vegetarian Food Asia is back this February, bringing a massive celebration of all things green and delicious! From Feb 21 to 23 at the HKCEC, explore over 6,000 vegetarian and sustainable living products, join cooking demos, creative competitions, and wellness workshops. Whether you're a veggie pro or just curious, there’s something for everyone.

Taobao Hong Kong is opening its first-ever offline furniture store in Tsim Sha Tsui, teaming up with local home improvement platform Papabo to bring you a furniture and lifestyle superstore where shoppers will get the best of both worlds – the convenience of online shopping and the joy of actually touching what you want to buy. Check out our nifty guide on everything you need to know about this new store.

The popular Twilight of the Warriors exhibition is wrapping up its first phase at Hong Kong International Airport and has now relocated to Kowloon City, the very neighbourhood in which the hit film is set. Until April 13, visit Airside in Kai Tak to see an expanded exhibition with all-new set-ups and photo spots that were not available at the airport pop-up.

Apart from the existing barbershop, tea stall, and other locations from the movie, five new sets have been added, including a comic stall, tailor shop, a tit da bone-setting clinic, a shoemaker’s shop, and a dental clinic. All the designs and props, down to the price tags on items, were modelled on historical pieces from Hong Kong in the 80s to fully immerse visitors in the bygone era of the Kowloon Walled City. The dim alleys and indoor locations have been integrated with sound effects and actors’ dialogues, so if you enjoyed Twilight of the Warriors, then this exhibition will be a real treat.

Spot Easter eggs hidden throughout the exhibition such as miniature models of the movie characters, and don’t miss the dining and retail stalls, where you can buy iconic dishes from Hong Kong food stalls served in nostalgic takeaway containers.

The famous Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris have collaborated with the Hong Kong Museum of Art to present this special exhibition on two of the greatest masters of the Impressionist art movement: Paul Cézanne and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. 

This is the first large-scale exhibition of the two Impressionists in Hong Kong, showcasing 52 masterpieces on loan from France. See how the pair found innovative ways to reinvent the art of their time, how they viewed the world, and how they captured the rapidly changing times around them. Cézanne and Renoir were also longtime friends and likely influenced each other’s works, as well as later becoming beacons of inspiration for later painters such as Spanish surrealist master Pablo Picasso.

The Cézanne and Renoir exhibition will run from January 17 to May 7. Tickets are priced at $50, with concessions available. Note that the Hong Kong Museum of Art is closed on Thursdays as well as the first two days of Chinese New Year (January 29-30).

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Maison Margiela Fragrances is bringing a touch of romance to Sha Tin with their pop-up at New Town Plaza, running from now to April 13. Dive into a world where art meets scent, featuring acclaimed London-based Chinese artist DuoDuo Huang’s stunning rose-inspired installation, titled Memories Imprinted. Visitors can get their hands on Valentine’s exclusives like Polaroid prints, keepsake cards, as well as signature and special-edition Replica fragrances. Don't forget to share your scent story on social media for a chance to win a cosy body care set (valued at $570). 

Winter’s here, and Ovolo’s Hygge Experience is back to keep you warm, cosy, and connected. From now to Feb 28, enjoy 20 percent off rooms, snuggly in-room treats – think fuzzy blankets, handmade candles, and Epsom salt bags – and board games for some indoor fun. Hotel guests can also take advantage of exclusive perks from local brands, including art workshops, float therapy, and harbour cruises. It's the ultimate Hygge experience, Hong Kong style. 

The Hong Kong Space Museum is now screening a new 3D dome show at its Space Theatre, immersing viewers into the Arctic wilderness through the year’s seasons, offering intimate glimpses of its wildlife such as polar bear, seals, and walruses, and bringing awareness to the impacts of climate change.

Follow walruses as they go through their annual molt during summer, made more difficult by ever-increasing temperatures; young harp seals as they grow from white furry bundles into sleek swimmers; the indigenous Inuit people as they make their increasingly dangerous journeys with sled dogs across the thinning sea ice; and more. Unless you’re the Steve Irwin type, this is probably the closest immersive experience you’ll get to being in an animal documentary.

This Arctic 3D show will be screened from January 15 until October 13, at 2pm and 6.30pm on weekdays, and 12.30pm and 5pm on weekends and public holidays. Tickets are priced at $30 for front stalls and $40 for stall seats. There’s lots of time to catch this immersive show, but note that the Hong Kong Space Museum is closed on Tuesdays, unless it falls on a public holiday.

De Sarthe is hosting their first group exhibition of the year, featuring a selection of artists represented by the gallery. They’ve deliberately fashioned this into a showcase of works that remain unsold from previous shows in a statement on today’s speculative art market that is too often defined by market manipulation, emphasising the importance of maintaining a healthy art ecosystem. View artworks like Chan Ka-kiu’s light box window ‘After’, consisting of found and AI-generated images haphazardly put together in a blatantly fictitious landscape; or Xinyan Zhang’s ‘Out of the Time No. 5’, colourful and playful at first, before being revealed to be a retelling of chilling true crimes.

The Peak Tramways Company, Limited and The Peak Tower Limited have joined forces to launch the 'It's Different Up here' campaign, offering a rich experience of Hong Kong's culture and cuisine for both local and overseas travellers. From now until February 28, 2025, make your way to 101 Peak Street to catch exciting performances, take snaps at various photo spots, taste authentic Hong Kong delicacies, and get your hands on well-designed gifts.

A highlight not to be missed has got to be the special hawker carts, include a Taxi Float by local craft cider brand Neon Cider, a Sugar Cane King Cart offering special edition bottled milk teas (available while stocks last), a Siu Mei Car with Hong Kong specialty products, the Mochi Cart and its Hong Kong-style gift boxes stuffed with local treats, and Chung's Tea House's Dim Sum Cart offering various Cantonese dim sum and special pistachio cream cones. As you explore 101 Peak Street, be sure to keep an eye out for the Dim Sum Squad – a crew led by Hai Gow, Siu Mai and Char Siu Bao – who will be making surprise appearances and bringing smiles to faces with lively dances.

French cultural and educational organisation Visionairs is presenting its debut exhibition ‘Notre-Dame de Paris, The Augmented Exhibition’ at the West Kowloon Cultural District. Using both artefacts and immersive augmented reality (AR), this research-based project tells the story of the cathedral’s 850-year history and brings this French landmark to life for audiences.

Set to launch at the same time as the official reopening of Notre-Dame to the public in Paris, this exhibition transports visitors into a historically accurate recreation of the cathedral, spanning from its origins in the 12th century to the devastation of the 2019 fire and its subsequent restoration. Portable touch-screen tablets in 13 languages guide history lovers through 20 time portals to various grand events in time, such as King Henry VI’s wedding and the coronation of Napoleon.

Apart from a full-sized replica of one of Notre-Dame’s chimera statues and a sculpture of one of its rose windows which survived the fire, there will also be more virtual delights such as visitors being superimposed as the cathedral’s animal statues, as well as collecting stained glass shards in a digital treasure hunt.

From now until December 7, early-bird tickets are available at $248, while standard tickets will be available from December 8 onwards at $298. There will be concessions available, as well as discounts when purchasing in bundles of four or six.

This latest exhibition in the M+ Open Gallery examines the process of making things as a creative expression, and how this has a lasting impact on individuals, communities, and our ecosystems. Drawing from the works of the M+ Collections, visitors are invited into the inspirations and techniques behind the processing of conceptualising, research, design, and fabrication that go into the objects and architecture we see around us. Split into four sections, it covers the broad themes of ceramics with its layered history; innovative uses of materials like neon, resin, and bamboo, including a restored Hong Kong neon sign; how computing, machine learning, and AI have impacted the making process; and the effects of consumerism and mass production on contemporary society. Tickets for ‘Making It Matters’ cost $120, and allow same-day entry to the other paid exhibitions in M+.

This exhibition features more than 40 haute couture pieces from the fashion artist Guo Pei, including Rihanna’s show-stopping yellow gown that she wore to the 2015 Met Gala. It marks the first major exhibition dedicated to this celebrated Chinese couture artist in East Asia. With a practice that has spanned almost four decades, Guo is among China’s first generation of contemporary fashion designers, with work reflecting Asian and global trends over the past century. You’ll often see traditional Chinese embroidery in her pieces, and this exhibition shows works inspired by fantasy dreamscapes, Eastern folklore, architecture, and space-time. The designer herself will hold a talk on September 21, and M+ will also host two screenings of Yellow Is Forbidden, which documents Guo’s journey in a predominantly Western field as she prepares a show for Paris Haute Couture Week.

Swing by the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery at City University of Hong Kong for the 'Might and Magnificence: Ceremonial Arms and Armour across Cultures' exhibition, running from now until February 23, 2025. Co-curated by Dr Libby Lai-Pik Chan and Dr Rachel Parikh, this exhibition showcases nearly 200 incredible pieces that reveal the rich cultural stories behind ceremonial arms and armour. Discover how these ceremonial arms reflect cultural and social identities – from markers of status to instruments of worship – through examples of rare items from esteemed private and local public collections, including the renowned Mengdiexuan Collection and the celebrated R&J Collection. The exhibition is free to enter, with on-site registration available at the Tai Chee Avenue entrance of the Lau Ming Wai Academic Building, adjacent to the Amphitheatre on the 2/F.

High Street’s infamous haunted house has turned into a colourful art space! Designed by local architect Stanley Siu, the ‘Love in the Light’ Luminart exhibition combines art, architecture, and technology in a stunning shows that takes visitors on a romantic journey through time. Running from now to May 21, 2025, this year-long exhibition sees the arched veranda of  the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex light up in a rainbow of colours every 10 minutes in the evening from 6pm to 10pm.

Despite being nicknamed the ‘High Street Haunted House’ – due to the numerous ghostly sightings and its supposed past as a former execution hall used by the Japanese troops in the war, this unique location has been a popular spot for wedding photoshoots over the years, and its charming design makes the perfect location for the exhibition’s intimate storytelling. Immerse yourself in the historic surroundings and dance between the lights and the shadows, letting the music take you through the tales of love, from the first glance to a promise of forever.