Curry fishball plushies, novelty minibus signs and products inspired by Hong Kong’s iconic imagery were the top sellers at the city’s largest Lunar New Year fair. One vendor reported daily sales exceeding HK$100,000 (US$12,790).
On Wednesday, vendors, ranging from first-time sellers to charities, attracted customers with their locally designed merchandise as tens of thousands of festivalgoers filled the booths at Victoria Park’s Lunar New Year Fair.
Among the busiest stalls was Lo Hey, which had earlier gone viral online for its plushies based on traditional Hong Kong street food, such as curry fishballs.
The stall was opened by a 45-year-old Hongkonger surnamed Choi, who previously operated a hotpot restaurant under the same name.
Staff were seen charming patrons by pretending to season and sauce the plushies arranged on a grill to emulate the street food experience, even placing the toys in paper bags used at food stalls for takeaway.
Emily Tse, a 21-year-old student from Polytechnic University, who works as an employee at the stall, said that business remained strong compared with earlier days of the fair, with daily sales estimated at about HK$100,000.
Some products, including their plushie BBQ Squid and Siumai, had already sold out, she said.
She attributed the stall’s success to the locally designed products.
“This is not Taobao or Pinduoduo,” she said, referring to two popular mainland Chinese e-commerce sites.
Other vendors serving up local flair were friends Valarie Wu Chi-wing, 23, and Enya Lam Nga-yan, 25, who drew crowds with their plushie keychains shaped like traditional Lunar New Year snacks such as Cantonese sweet fried dumplings, as well as cartoon Fai Chun, or paper blessings.
Wu said that the pair had designed all the products they sold, and they had a group of friends with them helping staff their booth.
She said business on Monday was the best since the fair opened five days earlier, with total sales reaching around HK$40,000.
“People of all ages love [our products] because it really brings out the childhood memories of Hong Kong people,” she said.
Nearby, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology student union was drawing crowds with their novelty minibus signs and tote bags adorned with horses to signify the coming lunar year’s zodiac animal.
Veronica Lam Cheuk-ting, 19, who staffed the booth with fellow student Curtis Lee Cheuk-ching, 19, said it was their first time taking part in the fair.
“This kind of activity is a Hong Kong tradition, so we wanted to join in and have some fun with other people in Hong Kong,” said Lam, who is studying biotechnology.
“We also know tourists are here so we want to share our traditions with them as well.”
Among the pair’s bestsellers were minibus signs that said “none of my business” and “My GPA is zero”.
The Victoria Park fair is one of 14 across the city, featuring about 1,500 stalls in total selling festive blooms, creative decorations and snacks.
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said fairs across the city attracted more than 190 million visitors over the past five days, up 20 per cent year-on-year.
Elsewhere among the 400 stalls at Victoria Park was a group of secondary and university students volunteering with Dream Compassioneers, a youth-led NGO that was raising money for children in Cambodia.
Chloe Wong Sze-kiu, a 20-year-old studying early childhood education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and secondary student Ethan Chan Hiu-ei, 16, proudly showed off their merchandise, which included postcards with drawings made by Cambodian children and playing cards adorned with Hong Kong slang.
Wong said the booth had raised about HK$10,000 so far for charity, which she noted was slightly better than last year.
She added that the booth would remain open overnight to raise as much money as possible, and that she would only leave once the fair officially finished at 7am on Tuesday.
“It feels quite meaningful,” she said. “Hongkongers are quite supportive of this project.”
