Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year parade next month is expected to draw an audience of 100,000 people.
The event will feature the global toy sensation Labubu and the city’s famous wishing tree on floats during the procession. The Hong Kong Tourism Board, which organises the event, announced that eight “distinctive” floats will be displayed at Kai Tak Sports Park the day after the parade. This will be the first time such an arrangement takes place.
The event will be held in Tsim Sha Tsui on the evening of February 17, the first day of Lunar New Year. The procession will feature 12 floats, 15 local performing groups and 16 acts from outside the city.
“We predict that the turnout for this event this year will be 100,000 people,” a board spokesman said. “We expect that half of those will be tourists.”
Tourism Board chairman Peter Lam Kin-ngok said on Tuesday that three organisations would be making their debut on parade floats for this year’s event.
“Hong Kong’s McDonald’s, the Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree and locally created trendy intellectual property products will be joining the float parade for the first time,” Lam said.
Organisers said McDonald’s Hong Kong float would showcase a design that was inspired by one of its restaurants in the 1980s and include appearances by the brand’s popular mascots.
Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways, which served as the parade’s title sponsor for 24 consecutive years, will present a float celebrating its 80th anniversary, showcasing two aircraft models symbolising the airline’s past and present.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club, the event’s exclusive parade route sponsor, will have a float featuring three horses to mark the Year of the Horse.
The float by the Lam Tsuen Well-Wishing Festival, meanwhile, will include an illuminated Wishing Tree, famed city landmarks, and a colourful horse to convey Lunar New Year blessings.
The vehicle from the Hong Kong Brand Toy Association features a design with 12 popular toys immersed in a giant bathtub, including hit character Labubu created by locally born-artist Lung Ka-sing.
Eight “distinctive floats” will be displayed at Kai Tak Sports Park from February 18 to 26.
The board added that on the second and third day of Lunar New Year, non-local performing groups from the parade would also stage shows at the venue.
This year’s parade will feature performances from 31 groups from Hong Kong and beyond. Thirteen out of 16 of the non-local performing groups will be joining for the first time.
This includes mainland China’s Fumi Youth Yingge Dance Troupe of Puning City, which previously performed in state broadcaster CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala in 2025.
For spectators hoping to view the event up close, tickets for seats at a spectator stand by the Hong Kong Cultural Centre will go on sale on February 7 at the Tourism Board’s Kowloon Visitor Centre at 8am, with prices ranging from HK$450 (US$57.70) to HK$600 per person. Discounts are available for the elderly and children.
Spectators without tickets can still watch the parade along the route, which starts at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and takes in Haiphong Road and Nathan Road. A live television broadcast will be available.
