The best things to do in Hong Kong today

Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple is celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival with large themed lantern displays across its grounds and Wong Tai Sin Temple Square, turning the area into a luminous playground to mark its 105th anniversary. Visitors can spot 106 birthday sheep lanterns and a tribute to Hong Kong’s first female astronaut, while evening guests arriving after 6pm can collect a complimentary glowing gift. The 18-day celebration also features DIY lantern-making workshops, riddle-solving games, stargazing sessions, free ice cream pop-ups, and a glowing dragon parade in front of the Main Altar. The lantern festival runs from September 17 to October 4, open until 9pm on weekdays and 10pm on weekends and public holidays, with extended hours to 11pm on September 25 for Mid-Autumn night.

Back by popular demand, the lantern display at Wan Chai’s beloved Blue House returns from now until October 14. Featuring over 700 lanterns hand-painted by residents, neighbours, and local illustrators, the display stretches across Stone Nullah Lane, Kat On Street, Hing Wan Street, King Sing Street, and Queen’s Road East, turning the old tong lau and street corners into a brilliant community showcase. The lanterns light up every evening from 6pm to 9.30pm. 

Lee Tung Avenue has transformed its 200-metre pedestrian walkway into a sea of light for its Moon Fest Lumiere, hanging more than 800 traditional lanterns overhead. This year’s display combines the art of paper-cutting with modern light design, featuring custom palace lanterns with silhouettes that illustrate timeless folklore tales, family reunions, lantern-making, and more. Beyond the canopy, visitors can explore a pop-up store from Hang Heung Bakery, a weekend market, and enjoy a Mid-Autumn concert on Sept 26 (2pm-6pm). The signature LED Fire Dragon Fiesta will also make its grand return on September 25 at 8.30pm, so mark your calendar!

Every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department sets up numerous lantern decorations across the city. This year, the displays will light up from 6.30pm to 11pm at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza (Sept 6-Oct 11) and Victoria Park (Sept 17-27). Over at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre is the ‘Moonlit Bunny Crew’, a colourful, geometric display of Hong Kong’s iconic attractions created by local creative team Stickyline. Alongside the International Lantern Spectacular at Victoria Park, there is also a series of lanterns themed around the city’s unique food culture and everyday life. A Mid-Autumn Creative Market will also take place on Saturdays and Sundays during the event period.

Hailing from Malmö in Sweden, this museum famously gathers over 80 of the world’s most polarising foods for your multi-sensory (dis)pleasure. Expect a real assault on your senses with a combination of real foods, models, photo and video archives, scent installations, and interactive displays. Some of the disgusting foods on display include Surströmming, fermented herring from Sweden that’s long been considered the smelliest canned food on Earth; fermented shark meat from Iceland; cheese with live maggots that’s officially banned by the EU; frog smoothies; and more. Of course, after seeing everything, visitors will also have the opportunity to taste a curated selection of unusual foods. These could range from Australian Vegemite and crunchy crickets, to final bosses like Icelandic fermented shark! Keep your vomit bag handy, but if you manage to complete the challenge, you’ll earn the title of ‘Tastebud Warrior’.

Hong Kong’s largest gelato market has taken over PMQ, with 20 brand stalls bringing together artisanal gelato crafted by master gelatiers from Hong Kong, Macau, Italy, and Portugal. This edition debuts over 30 event-exclusive and brand-new gelato flavors, so have fun ordering cup after cup. Interesting treats include Kai’s Gourmet caviar gelato, garlic and cilantro flavours from Dino Gelato, and The Frozen Club x Kwan Hong Bakery’s Hong Kong-style French toast gelato. Admission is free but you can also purchase a Gelato Tasting Pass ($188) on-site, which allows you to redeem six mini gelatos at designated stalls. There’s nothing better than licking your way through inventive gelato flavors like foie gras brandy, black truffle, or pineapple bun-crusted crème brûlée in this heat!

Launching for the first time this year, the Harbourside East Lawn will be taken over by al fresco fun over four consecutive weekends, conveniently spanning the Mid-Autumn Festival, Golden Week, and the Hong Kong Cyclothon. 16 vendors will offer food and drinks, ranging from Lau Kee Boat Noodles, Asian-French from Pano, vegan and vegetarian fare from Play with Years and Yau Veggie Truck, to coffee from Cupping Room. There will also be craft cocktails by The Captain’s Bar x Tankyu Distillery, modern street food staples from Kowloon Walled City, Korean-inspired bites from Dotom, doughnuts from Donut Demo x Being Soda, and craft beer from Mak’s Beer x Fisholic. You won’t even have to bring your own picnic mats if you don’t want to, because WestK-branded picnic essentials will be available for rentals. Foldable chairs for both adults and children, picnic tables, picnic mats, portable fans, and even lanterns can be borrowed at $40 to $50. If you purchase designated food sets, you can even borrow two foldable chairs for free on the same day, so make sure you keep those receipts. Don’t forget to get up from your mat every now and then to check out the themed workshops, live music performances, and wellness leisure activities like farm-to-table experiences, harp therapy, and botanical ceramics.

For two weekends, The Mills is bringing together over 50 standout coffee brands from Japan and Hong Kong. The exclusive Overseas Coffee Experience Zone spotlights 11 premier independent roasters and specialty coffee spots from across Japan. Among these Japanese artisans who are flying in to hand craft their signature brews are some independent micro-roasters making their first-ever appearance in Hong Kong, so if you’re missing a taste of coffee in Japan, the solution is to make the much shorter trip to Tsuen Wan.  Over 40 popular specialty cafés, bakeries, and pastry makers will also be around to visit for free, including Manteigaria with its Portuguese egg tarts, Wave Patisserie serving French pastries, and Soul Coffee & Matcha by IDFC with signatures like their Matcha Strawberry, French Caramelised Banana Toast, and Coconut Hojicha.  Meanwhile, there will be a vinyl music experience onsite with Basement X holding a time-limited pop-up. Flick through over 100 selected records ranging from jazz, R&B, and more that will be played live and are also available for purchase. We dare you to find more chill weekend plans than records, coffee, and snacks.

Discover the history, art, and cultural impact of gaming at CityUHK’s new interactive exhibition, The Power of Play. This hands-on showcase spans 5,000 years of gaming history, tracking the evolution of human play from ancient Egyptian board games and nostalgic 1980s arcades to immersive virtual reality experiences, modern esports, and collaborative robotics. Curated by professor Espen Aarseth, the exhibition offers a fascinating look at how society’s attitude toward gaming has shifted from a casual amusement to a global competitive phenomenon.  The Power of Play runs from July 4 to October 25 at the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery (18th floor of the Lau Ming Wai Academic Building at CityUHK). Doors are open from 11am to 7pm from Tuesday to Sunday. Entry won't cost you a penny, though you’ll need to register online before turning up.

Tai Kwun pays tribute to the social value of camaraderie and having brothers-in-arms with its newest summer exhibition ‘Better Together – Partnering Up for Hong Kong Movies’, which celebrates the ethos of paak zyu soeng (拍住上) – a Cantonese phrase for team spirit which evokes the image of partnering up with arms around shoulders – as seen in several decades of filmmaking since the 60s. Among the immersive recreations of iconic scenes from eight films and sequels, visitors can expect to walk through the famous upside-down heist scene from Once a Thief starring Chow Yun-fat; contrast two robotic figures from Aces Go Places 2 and Gen-Y Cops; and an iconic stunt action sequence involving a helicopter, motorbike, and gold bars from Police Story 3 – Super Cop. A must-visit for any Hong Kong film buff.