What's on in Hong Kong (HK), Hong Kong through the year

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Hong Kong Marathon

• Holiday

  Chinese New Year

  17–19 FebLunar New YearCrowdedClosures

  Three public holidays, a night parade in Tsim Sha Tsui and fireworks over the harbour on the second day. Small shops and family restaurants shut for most of the week. Source ↗

• Festival

  Hong Kong Marathon

  25 Jan – 25 Feb · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Around seventy thousand runners on a Sunday in the coolest weeks of the year. Nathan Road, the harbour tunnels and the Island's western corridor close overnight and reopen about lunchtime. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Chinese New Year, Hong Kong Marathon

• Season

  Sea fog season

  15 Feb – 30 Apr · usuallyRisk

  Warm air over a cold sea leaves the Peak and the hill trails inside cloud for days at a time, and the harbour view you came for is grey. Source ↗

Still on: Chinese New Year (17–19 Feb), Hong Kong Marathon (25 Jan – 25 Feb (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Art Basel Hong Kong

• Festival

  Art Basel Hong Kong

  20 Mar – 1 Apr · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Five days at the convention centre that pull the regional art trade in at once, with satellite fairs and late gallery nights in Central and Wong Chuk Hang. Rooms on both sides of the harbour move for it. Source ↗

• Festival

  Hong Kong Sevens

  17–19 AprMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  A rugby weekend that behaves like a public holiday, now at Kai Tak. Hotel rates across the harbour move for it, so book before the fixture list appears. Source ↗

Still on: Sea fog season (15 Feb – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong Sevens

• Holiday

  Ching Ming and hill fires

  2–8 Apr · usuallyNational holidayCrowdedRisk

  A public holiday for grave sweeping, when the hillside cemeteries and the minibuses to them are jammed from first light. Incense and candles on dry slopes are why the hill fire danger warning goes up the same week. Source ↗

• Festival

  Cheung Chau Bun Festival

  21–25 MayMajor festivalCrowded

  Held around Buddha's Birthday on a car-free island an hour out by ferry: floating-children parades in the afternoon, bun-tower scrambling overnight. The last boats back are packed. Source ↗

Still on: Sea fog season (15 Feb – 30 Apr (usually)), Art Basel Hong Kong (20 Mar – 1 Apr (usually)), Hong Kong Sevens (17–19 Apr)

Busy — Cheung Chau Bun Festival, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Typhoon season

  1 May – 30 NovClosures

  Tropical cyclones can reach the city from May, with July to September the likeliest. A number eight signal closes offices, shops and ferries for a day, and flights go with them. Source ↗

• Festival

  Tuen Ng dragon boat races

  19 JunMajor festivalCrowded

  A public holiday, with races in the typhoon shelters at Stanley, Aberdeen, Sai Kung and Tai O. Village heats run for a fortnight around the day itself. Source ↗

Still on: Cheung Chau Bun Festival (21–25 May)

Busy — Tuen Ng dragon boat races, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Typhoon season (1 May – 30 Nov), Tuen Ng dragon boat races (19 Jun)

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Hong Kong Book Fair

• Festival

  Hong Kong Book Fair

  15–25 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Seven days at the convention centre in the middle of July that draw close to a million people, which is a strange thing to walk into unawares. Wan Chai and the harbour crossings queue with it. Source ↗

Still on: Typhoon season (1 May – 30 Nov)

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Summer vacation in Hong Kong

• Festival

  Yu Lan, the ghost month

  5 Aug – 15 Sep · usuallyMajor festival

  Through the seventh lunar month the Chiu Chow associations raise bamboo theatres in parks and playgrounds for opera, burn paper offerings on street corners and hand out rice at the end. Nothing shuts; the city is quietly busy with it for a month. Source ↗

Still on: Typhoon season (1 May – 30 Nov)

Busy — Mid-Autumn and the fire dragon, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Mid-Autumn and the fire dragon

  25–27 SepMajor festivalCrowded

  Lanterns go up in Victoria Park and a straw dragon stuck with incense is carried through the lanes of Tai Hang for three nights. The day after the festival is the public holiday. Source ↗

Still on: Typhoon season (1 May – 30 Nov), Yu Lan, the ghost month (5 Aug – 15 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Dry hiking season

  1 Oct – 31 DecMonsoon

  The northeast monsoon takes the humidity out and the ridges come back into view. This is when the trail network, not the shopping, is the reason to be here.

Still on: Typhoon season (1 May – 30 Nov), Mid-Autumn and the fire dragon (25–27 Sep)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Typhoon season (1 May – 30 Nov), Dry hiking season (1 Oct – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Christmas and New Year holidays in Hong Kong

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Dry hiking season (1 Oct – 31 Dec)