The Last Glow of the New Year
You’d think after two weeks of fireworks, red envelopes, and family dinners, Hong Kong would be ready to call it quits on Chinese New Year. But no. The city saves one more act for the very end — and it might be the most photogenic one.
The Spring Lantern Festival (元宵節) falls on the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, which in 2026 means February 12 to 14. Three evenings of lantern displays across multiple parks, with everything from hand-tied silk lanterns to LED installations the size of apartment buildings. It’s free to attend, which partly explains why half of Hong Kong shows up.
Where the Lanterns Are
Victoria Park in Causeway Bay is the flagship venue and gets the most elaborate installations. It’s a short walk from Tin Hau MTR station — just follow the crowd after 6 PM and you’ll find it. The park usually has a main theme (zodiac animals are popular) with a walkthrough tunnel section that creates a bottleneck every single year. They never seem to fix the traffic flow, but the tunnel photos are worth the wait.
Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade is the second major spot, right along the waterfront. The lanterns here are smaller-scale but the backdrop — Victoria Harbour, the skyline, the occasional junk boat — makes up for it. If you’re only going to one venue, this one photographs better after dark.
The Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza in TST usually hosts the stage performances. It’s walking distance from the promenade, so you can hit both in one evening without much planning.
I’ve seen a few travel blogs mention displays at Sha Tin Park and Tai Po Waterfront Park in past years, but I’m not sure if those are annual fixtures or rotating additions. Worth checking the Leisure and Cultural Services Department website closer to the date.
What Actually Happens
The lantern displays are the main draw, obviously. But there’s a layer of programming around them that’s easy to miss if you just show up, take photos, and leave.
Lantern riddles (猜燈謎) are the tradition with the deepest roots. Paper strips with riddles get attached to lanterns, and visitors try to solve them. Most are in Cantonese, which limits the fun for non-speakers, but the atmosphere of people clustered around lanterns arguing about answers is entertaining regardless.
Lion and dragon dances happen on the main stages, usually between 7 and 8 PM. The drumming carries across the park — you’ll hear it before you see it. Some years they have Cantonese opera excerpts too, though the schedule varies.
The food situation is decent but not spectacular. Street stalls sell tangyuan (glutinous rice balls in sweet soup), which is the traditional Lantern Festival food. You’ll also find the usual Hong Kong street food suspects — fish balls, egg waffles, stinky tofu. Nothing you can’t get on any given Tuesday in Mong Kok, but eating tangyuan on the actual fifteenth night feels right.
The Valentine’s Day Problem
Here’s the thing about 2026: February 14 is both the last night of the Lantern Festival and Valentine’s Day. This is either a wonderful coincidence or a logistical nightmare, depending on your perspective.
Expect the crowds on Saturday the 14th to be significantly worse than the first two nights. Couples will be there in force. Victoria Park will feel like a subway car at rush hour. If you’re going for photography or just a relaxed stroll, go on Thursday the 12th or Friday the 13th instead. You’ll get the same lanterns with maybe 40% fewer people.
That said, if you’re traveling with a partner and want the full romantic-lantern-festival experience, the last night does have a certain energy. Just get there early — by 6 PM early — and accept that you’ll be shuffling rather than strolling.
Getting There Without the Headache
Transport is straightforward. The MTR handles everything:
- Victoria Park: Tin Hau Station (Exit A2), 3-minute walk
- TST Promenade: East Tsim Sha Tsui Station (Exit J), 5-minute walk
- Cultural Centre: Tsim Sha Tsui Station (Exit L6), right there
The MTR runs until about 1 AM, so getting home isn’t an issue unless you’re far out in the New Territories. Octopus card works everywhere. If you’re coming from the airport that day, the Airport Express to Hong Kong Station connects to everything.
For accommodation, anywhere along the MTR Island or Tsuen Wan line puts you within easy reach. Causeway Bay is the most convenient for Victoria Park but hotel prices there in mid-February are not gentle. Mong Kok or Jordan are cheaper and only a few stops away. Booking.com usually has decent last-minute options in Kowloon, and Trip.com sometimes bundles flight + hotel packages to Hong Kong that work out cheaper than booking separately.
What to Bring, What to Skip
February in Hong Kong is cool but not cold — nighttime temperatures sit around 15 to 18°C, though it can feel colder near the waterfront with the wind. A light jacket is enough. Layers are smarter than one heavy coat.
Bring a camera that handles low light reasonably well. Phone cameras have gotten good enough for most people, but if you’re shooting with anything manual, a fast lens makes a real difference here. Tripods are technically allowed in the parks but practically useless in the crowd density.
Comfortable shoes matter more than you’d think. You’ll be on your feet for two to three hours minimum, and the pavement in Victoria Park isn’t exactly forgiving.
Skip the umbrella unless rain is actually forecast. It just gets in the way. And honestly, skip the selfie stick — you’ll be that person blocking everyone’s view.
The Part Nobody Talks About
The Lantern Festival is beautiful. It is. But it’s also loud, crowded, and occasionally frustrating. The main paths through Victoria Park become one-way human rivers after 7:30 PM. If you need to backtrack to see something you missed, good luck — you’re swimming upstream.
Phone signal gets spotty in the thick of it. Plan your meeting point with friends before you go in, not after. “I’ll find you inside” is famous last words at Victoria Park on Lantern Festival night.
The food stalls run out of tangyuan faster than you’d expect. If tangyuan is important to you, eat it early.
And the lanterns themselves — the traditional handmade ones are genuinely beautiful, but the LED installations vary year to year. Some years they’re stunning; other years they look like a shopping mall Christmas display. You won’t know until you see them.
After the Lights
The last bus of lantern-goers clears out around 10 PM. If you’re near TST, the waterfront quiets down surprisingly fast and it’s a good place to sit for a bit. Causeway Bay stays alive later — there’s always a cha chaan teng open somewhere.
If you’re extending your Hong Kong trip beyond the festival, KLOOK has day-trip packages to Lantau Island or the Big Buddha that make decent follow-up activities. The contrast between festival-night chaos and a quiet cable car ride the next morning is something.
Walking back to the hotel after the last night, I kept finding bits of red paper stuck to my shoes — remnants of something, a riddle strip maybe, or just the general festive debris. The street sweepers were already out. By morning, you’d never know the park had been full of ten thousand lanterns the night before.
