Written by HK Cheapo
April in Hong Kong is packed with music, dance, and art — and a big dollop of world-class rugby. Eat a mushroom burger and watch Cheung Chau islanders scramble for buns, get the best bean juice in all the land at Coffee Hong Kong, and head to the Green Women Festival at Eaton HK to celebrate diversity, equity, and sustainability.
Sports
Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Rugby Sevens
The Hong Kong Sevens is back from April 17 to 19 at Kai Tak Stadium, and, as ever, it is only partly about rugby. Yes, you get three days of world-class sevens action as Hong Kong hosts the first round of the 2026 World Championship, but the real draw is the atmosphere: costumes, singalongs, a South Stand that has achieved near-mythic status, and the general sense that the whole city has collectively decided to make a weekend of it. This year is also the tournament’s 50th anniversary, which gives the whole thing a little extra sparkle.
Traditional Festivals
Cheung Chau Bun Festival
If you’ve ever thought, “Climbing a 60-foot tower covered in buns sounds like a blast,” then the Cheung Chau Bun Festival is your kind of party. Every year, the usually serene island of Cheung Chau transforms into a bustling hub of quirky traditions and vibrant celebrations. The festival’s pièce de résistance? The Bun Scrambling Competition, where daring participants scale towering bamboo structures adorned with thousands of steamed buns, all in the name of good fortune and bragging rights. The island goes vegetarian for three days, with even the local McDonald’s swapping out Big Macs for mushroom burgers.
Greater Bay Area Lantern Carnival
Taking place in Guangzhou’s Nansha district, this festival stretches across a huge swathe of parkland near Tianhou Palace, with a 2.5 kilometre route lined with enormous lantern displays, themed zones, performances, markets, concerts, and drone shows. If you are coming from Hong Kong or Macau, there are a few nice extras too, including a transport subsidy and free entry to some nearby attractions.
Exhibitions
Shahzia Sikander at the M+
M+’s presentation of Shahzia Sikander feels especially compelling in a city so shaped by the legacies of trade, empire, and migration. The Pakistani-American artist is known for transforming the visual language of Central and South Asian miniature painting into something contemporary and layered, and this new facade commission uses hand-painted animation to trace the shifting forces that linked Mughal India, Qing China, and the British Empire.
Arts and Culture
French May Arts Festival
French May 2026 feels especially strong on performance, with dance and music doing much of the heavy lifting in this year’s programme. Under the theme “Re/naissance,” the festival brings together contemporary circus, chamber music, jazz, immersive theatre, and dance works that lean into movement, rhythm, and live presence, from the acrobatic spectacle of VOÛTE to the physical intensity of Jan Martens’ THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER 2.0.
Live Music and Performance
Candlelight Concert in Hong Kong
Candlelight is the now-global concert series that stages live performances in rooms lit by thousands of candles, and it has brought its flickering formula to Hong Kong. Taking over venues like The Repulse Bay and PMQ, the series mixes classical staples with crowd-pleasing pop tributes, so one night you might get Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and another a string quartet take on Taylor Swift, Coldplay, ABBA, or K-pop hits.
Food and Drink
COFFEE HONG KONG x Tokyo Coffee Festival
The Tokyo Coffee Festival is set to bring its passion for specialty coffee to Hong Kong as part of COFFEE HONG KONG @ WestK. Since its inception in 2015, the Tokyo Coffee Festival has attracted top roasters, industry experts, and thousands of coffee enthusiasts. Now, it’s making its debut in Hong Kong.
Social Impact
Green Women Festival
Topics like diversity, equity, and climate action feel a bit less abstract at this community-oriented festival hosted by local nonprofit Encompass HK. Expect talks, performances, workshops, and community booths around women’s leadership, sustainability, and inclusion. Hosted at Eaton HK, it mixes the bigger-picture stuff with more tangible, everyday ways in, so alongside bilingual talks and networking with changemakers, there are hands-on workshops on things like bioleather wallet-making, zero-waste skincare, and food literacy.
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