What's on in Hong Kong this Chinese New Year

• This year Hong Kongers will be celebrating the Year of the Horse across the city

• The Chinese New Year holiday falls on February 17, 18 and 19 this year, but there will be plenty going on in the weeks before

• Big ticket events include the Cathay International Chinese New Year Night Parade on February 17 and the Fireworks Display on February 18

Read more: The best of Chinese New Year dining in Hong Kong

Cathay International Chinese New Year Night Parade

What's on this Chinese New Year - young performers take to the streets at the annual Night Parade (image courtesy Hong Kong Tourism Board)

Read more: How to give and receive lai see, or 'red packets'

This annual parade takes place on the first day of Chinese New Year with a blast of dazzling floats and live street performances. Be awed by the vibrant parade with horse-inspired floats accompanied by performances by local and international troupes. The celebrations start at 6pm with a variety of street performances like juggling, magic shows, dancing and live music and continue into the night. The theme this year is ‘Unfold a Year of Good Fortune’, with a parade of more than 50 performers and floats. The parade begins at Hong Kong Cultural Piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui and winds its way along Canton, Haiphong and Nathan Roads, finishing outside Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers. 

Cathay International Chinese New Year Night Parade, 8 to 9.45pm with pre-parade performances along the route from 6pm, February 17, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon; ticketed seats from $300 available from HKTB’s Kowloon Visitor Centre, Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui.

Chinese New Year Flower Markets

What's on this Chinese New Year - browse the flower markets for colourful blooms (image courtesy Shutterstock)

Flower markets are a popular Chinese New Year event and several spring up around the city in the week leading up to the holiday. The largest at Victoria Park boasts more than 300 vibrant stalls where visitors can enjoy festive snacks, gifts, fruit and thousands of colourful blooms. (And if you’re looking for flowers, don’t miss a trip to Prince Edward Flower Market where stalls will be stacked with blooms, decorations, handicrafts and treats). Entrance to Victoria Flower Market is free and this year the market runs from February 11 to 17. Fourteen more market venues include:

Kowloon

Cheung Sha Wan Playground, Sham Shui Po

Fa Hui Park, Sham Shui Po

Kwun Tong Recreation Ground, Kwun Tong

To Kwa Recreation Ground, Kowloon City

New Territories

Kwai Chung Sports Ground, Kwai Tsing

Po Hong Park, Tseung Kwan O

Sha Tsui Road Playground, Tsuen Wan

Shek Wu Hui Playground, North District

Tin Hau Temple Fung Shui Square, Tai Po

Tin Hau Temple Plaza, Tuen Mun

Tung Tau Industrial Area Playground, Yuen Long

Yuen Wo Playground, Sha Tin

Outlying Islands

Tat Tung Road Garden, Tung Chung

Central Market

What's on this Chinese New Year - pick up a festive gift or two at Central Market

Hong Kong’s Central Market is transformed for its Chinese New Year ‘Central Market: A Golden Year with Luck’ celebration. Bullseye and Buttercup from the popular children’s film, Toy Story, are headlining the festivities with instagrammable installations, games and a photo booth. Visitors can also enjoy festive markets, workshops and art exhibitions within the Central Market precinct. The centrepiece of the celebration is the ‘Toy Story Bullseye and Buttercup Enchanted Blossomland’ on the ground floor alongside a five-metre wishing tree where visitors can make a wish for the Year of the Horse. The Toy Story theme continues to the first floor; on the second floor is a Toy Story Bullseye Interactive Zone where visitors can press a lucky button to reveal their auspicious colour for the lunar year. The space is also hosting the Central Market x HoHoHoLa Fortune New Year Market with festive treats and creative gifts.

Central Market: A Golden Year with Luck, until March 8; Central Market, Central.

Lion Dances

What's on this Chinese New Year - lion dancers will be embracing good fortune (image courtesy Shutterstock)

Watch - and listen - out for the many dragon and lion dances that take place throughout the city during the Chinese New Year period. The colourful creatures wind their way along alleys and streets and through parks and shops, dancing to clashing cymbals and banging drums to banish evil spirits and encourage prosperity and good fortune for the new year. The dances take place anywhere and everywhere, from streets and town squares to restaurants and office spaces. Top lion dance-watching spots across town include Central Market, Citygate Outlets, Elements, Harbour City, Festival Walk, IFC mall, Pacific Place, Lee Gardens, Lee Tung Avenue, Langham Place and Megabox.

Art exhibition and colouring competition

What's on this Chinese New Year - artwork depicting seven decades in Hong Kong by Lai Bing Chiu

Families are invited for a moment of contemplation and togetherness as a new year begins and to appreciate the Hong Kong captured by veteran local artist, Lai Bing Chiu. ‘Our Hong Kong: Old Hong Kong Through the Art of Lai Bing Chiu’ is being staged in collaboration with The Lai Bing Chiu Art Foundation and will run throughout the festive period, showcasing the works of Mr Lai. Born in 1940, Lai has documented the city’s evolution over the last seven decades, from coastal vistas to stilt houses, mountain peaks and traditional fishing boats. ‘Our Hong Kong’ features curated works dating back to the 1960s (in 1955 a fire in the Fa Hui Park squatter huts destroyed Lai’s home and early paintings) and a grand opening ceremony will take place on February 6 with Lai in attendance. A lifelong advocate for art education and social welfare, Lai was named one of the Outstanding Young Persons of Hong Kong in 1974 and has achieved several awards since then, including Master of Arts in Painting from France Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Arts Achievement Award from Hong Kong Arts Development Council. The exhibition will also host a children’s drawing competition and for every entry received, $20 will be donated to support children affected by the Tai Po fire tragedy. The award-winning entries will be showcased via video screens at Central Market.

Our Hong Kong: Old Hong Kong Through the Art of Lai Bing Chiu, February 4 to 24; Legacy Hall (1/F), Central Market, Central.

Lunar New Year Fireworks Display

What's on this Chinese New Year - welcome the new year with a bang (image courtesy Hong Kong Tourism Board)

Enjoy this huge firework display from both sides of Victoria Harbour. This event takes place on the second day of Chinese New Year (February 18) and is the highlight of Hong Kong's Chinese New Year celebrations. The show features more than thousands of fireworks exploding over the harbour. The best vantage points include Tsim Sha Tsui, Mid-Levels, Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, East Coast Park Precinct in Fortress Hill and Hung Hom Bypass. 

Lunar New Year Fireworks Display, 8pm, January 30, Victoria Harbour; viewing is free.

Whimsical Gallop at Pacific Place & Starstreet Precinct

What's on this Chinese New Year - horses adorned with embroidery decorate the halls of Pacific Place

Giddy up to Pacific Place and be wowed by its annual Chinese New Year installation. This year the mall has unveiled ‘Whimsical Gallop’, a Chinese-style garden containing horses and a three-and-a-half metre installation adorned with embroidery by Hong Kong embroidery artisans, YLYstudio. Beautifully handcrafted feathers, birds, pomegranates, coins, flowers, four-leaf clovers, ladybirds and auspicious clouds are detailed in thread, transforming the horses and installation into emblems of prosperity, unity and creativity. As well as the decorations, live performances and shopping privileges across the mall await.

Whimsical Gallop, from February 5; Pacific Place & Starstreet Precinct, Admiralty.

Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree Festival

What's on this Chinese New Year - make a wish for the Year of the Horse (image courtesy Hong Kong Tourism Board)

The Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees are a popular shrine located near to the 18th century Tin Hau Temple in Lam Tsuen. Visitors should write their wishes on joss paper and throw them into the trees, the higher the better. Legend maintains that if your wish catches onto a branch, it will come true.

Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree Festival, 9am ‘til late, February 17 to March 3, Lam Tsuen Wishing Square, Tai Po, New Territories; entrance is free.