Written by HK Cheapo
April showers bring May flowers! And sure enough this sultry May, Hong Kong’s event calendar is abloom. From art exhibitions to the much-missed spectacles of the Dragon Boat Festival and Cheung Chau Bun Festival, there’s an abundance of exciting events for all. Artsy Cheapos rejoice: the Affordable Art Fair is back in town, too!
Sports
Hong Kong Soccer Sevens 2025
After celebrating its 25th anniversary with the debut of a Women’s Tournament in 2024, the beloved seven-a-side showdown returns in 2025 with even more action. Expect a thrilling mix of future Premier League stars and local favourites tearing it up at Happy Valley’s Hong Kong Football Club. With teams like Aston Villa, West Ham, and Fulham in the mix — plus a growing roster of women’s teams — this is your chance to catch tomorrow’s legends today. And yes, entry’s free on Friday.
Stanley International Dragon Boat Championships
Recognised as the world’s largest one-day dragon boat events, this championship draws over 150 teams and more than 5,500 paddlers from Hong Kong and abroad. Participants will be competing across divisions including men’s, women’s, mixed, corporate, and university categories.
Exhibitions
A Movable Feast: The Culture of Food and Drink in China Special Exhibition
A Movable Feast: The Culture of Food and Drink in China peels back 5,000 years of culinary history, tracing how dishes, ingredients, and rituals have shaped empires and everyday life alike. Held at the Hong Kong Palace Museum, the show features over 110 rare artefacts — from Zhou dynasty bronze vessels to Qing dynasty picnic sets — on loan from the Palace Museum, the British Museum, and more. But this isn’t just a display of beautiful objects. It’s a journey across trade routes, tombs, and tea tables, complete with interactive dining tables, stamp challenges, and hands-on workshops.
Picasso for Asia — A Conversation
Picasso’s masterpieces return to Hong Kong — but not as you’ve seen them before. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia — A Conversation at M+ stages an audacious dialogue between the Spanish icon and 30 Asian and Asian-diasporic artists, reframing his legacy through a contemporary, cross-cultural lens. With over 60 works from the Musée national Picasso–Paris and 130 responses by artists like Isamu Noguchi, Nalini Malani, and Haegue Yang, the exhibition is structured around four themes: genius, outsider, magician, and apprentice.
Arts and Culture
Affordable Art Fair 2025
This May, the Affordable Art Fair (AAF) returns to Hong Kong. Priding itself on having the best hand-picked affordable art in Hong Kong, priced at under HK$100.00, the AAF will showcase works from 90+ local and international galleries. Local galleries including (but not limited to) Ubu Deco, Young Soy, and Oi Ling will represent artists from Hong Kong. Whether you’re a first-time buyer on a Cheapo budget or a connoisseur looking to spice up your collection, the AAF promises to have something for everyone.
French May Arts Festival 2024
The 2025 edition of the French May Arts Festival offers a diverse array of cultural events celebrating French heritage and promoting cultural exchange between Hong Kong and France. If you’re keen on visiual arts, a couple of highlights include Echoing Above, a photography exhibition at Blue Lotus Gallery and Huang Rui’s Sea of Silver Sand, a series of artworks that originated from the artist’s 2000 visit to the Zen gardens of Kyoto.
Traditional Festivals
Cheung Chau Bun Festival 2025
Arguably Hong Kong’s quirkiest cultural event, Cheung Chau’s iconic Bun Festival is set to return this May! Legend goes that Cheung Chau suffered a devastating plague about a century ago. The villagers prayed at Pak Tai Temple, the oldest and most important temple on the island, and carried statues of deities through the streets to ward off evil spirits. To celebrate the end of the plague, the Bun Festival was born.
At midnight on the third day, the famous ‘bun scrambling’ event takes place in front of the Pak Tai Temple. Watch well-trained competitors race to scramble up a 20 metre tower covered with buns, collecting as many of them as they can in three minutes. Don’t leave the island without a bun of your own, stamped with the Chinese character for ‘peace’ and filled with sesame, lotus, or red bean paste.
Buddha’s Birthday 2025
The birthday of Lord Buddha is one of the largest Buddhist festivals in Hong Kong, as well as being a public holiday. Buddhist temples all across Hong Kong, including the iconic Tian Tian Buddha on Lantau Island, hang lanterns, burn incense, and give offerings in preparation for the big day.
Dragon Boat Festival 2025
The birthday of Lord Buddha is one of the largest Buddhist festivals in Hong Kong, as well as being a public holiday. Buddhist temples all across Hong Kong, including the iconic Tian Tian Buddha on Lantau Island, hang lanterns, burn incense, and give offerings in preparation for the big day.
Tai O Dragon Boat Water Parade 2025
Tai O’s canals once again become a stage for one of Hong Kong’s most evocative living traditions — the Dragon Boat Water Parade. Part spiritual rite, part community ritual, this centuries-old ceremony unfolds not in open waters, but in the narrow, tidal arteries of a fishing village suspended on stilts. This event is recognised as part of Hong Kong’s intangible cultural heritage.
Food and Beverage
Hong Kong Whisky Festival 2025
Do you love whisky? Good news: the Hong Kong Whisky Festival is back. From vintage treasures of the 70s and 80s to exclusive rarities like a 17-year-old sherry from The Glenlivet and a 36-year-old Jamaican rum from Invergordon, take part in tastings of exclusive whiskies from around the world. There will be two days of masterclasses led by brand ambassadors and industry experts, and each ticket comes with a commemorative lanyard and Glencairn whisky glass.
| Advance sales: HK$188.00 | ||
Ginsanity 2025
On May 16 and 17, Ginsanity returns to PMQ in Central with a juniper-fuelled journey. This year’s festival features a wide variety of gins from local and international distilleries, including Hong Kong’s own Two Moons Distillery, as well as standout producers from the region such as Yunnan’s Youyoun Distilling and Macau’s Owl Man Distillery.
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