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Mabel Lui

Visiting the AIA Carnival on Hong Kong’s Central Harbourfront is an annual tradition for Rosabella Kwong, barring the interruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Sometimes, I might even go twice,” she says at this year’s carnival, which opened on December 20.
This time she has come with her partner William Cheung, who carries a bag full of stuffed animal prizes.
Games hold the biggest attraction for the couple, though Kwong notes that what makes her come back year after year is the carnival’s happy mood.
“I think the atmosphere is really lively, and I really like being able to go back to this childlike world,” she says.

It is not just fun for visitors. Peony Wong, the assistant games manager of the event, says that having manned so many game booths, she has mastered how to encourage players and comfort disgruntled ones.
She has even built relationships with super fans who visit every year. Among them is a visitor who each time spends lots of money playing ring toss.
“He always plays it and often will get really disappointed [when he misses], but … he’s really happy, just being able to talk to us. He’s happy that we’re cheering him on.
“He’s played so much that he’s opened a dedicated room in his office, just for the stuffed toys he won from ring toss. He’s even told us that if we’re free, we can go up and visit it.
“Sometimes he comes alone, sometimes with his secretary, who helps him carry the stuffed toys. It’s quite amusing that he has a room for all of them – these toys are really quite cherished.”

That visitor is not alone in his dedication. Events producer Michael Denmark, whose company, Great Entertainment Group, organises the carnival, recalls a trip to the dentist one time, where the hygienist expressed her enthusiasm for the fair while cleaning his teeth.
“She literally said, while she had all these [instruments] in my mouth, ‘Oh my god, you’re the carnival guy. I had to move apartments to get an extra bedroom for all of my toys.’”
Walking into the carnival reveals a palpable sense of buzz and excitement.
Contained within the 36,000-square-metre (388,000-square-foot) site is everything you need to tap into your inner child, from carnival games and thrilling rides to selfie installations and roving performers.
There are jaw-dropping circus acts, as well as an astonishing array of plush toys to be won.

The story of the carnival dates back to the mid-2000s, when a European funfair visited Hong Kong. At the time, Denmark, though not associated with the visiting fair, was immediately struck by how much the public enjoyed it.
Several years later, he and some business partners – one of which was the insurance company AIA – floated the idea of organising a carnival in Hong Kong, despite Denmark not specialising in that type of event.
Debuting in 2014, the carnival took a four-year break largely due to the coronavirus pandemic but returned in full force in 2023.
This year, there are 28 rides, 30 games, a community stage and the World Circus – produced by the 150-year-old Gandeys Circus – among other attractions.

Sammy Lau, who is now the event’s HR and site manager, started working at the carnival eight years ago when he was still a student.
“I just thought it’d be fun as a part-time job,” he says.
But even after he graduated, he found himself blocking out his wintertime specifically for the event every year. Now, he spends about half the year working with Great Entertainment, handling the operations of the carnival before and after it ends.
“I kept doing it ‘for fun’, and I just ended up doing it for so many years,” he says. “The whole event is really special to me and to Hong Kong people, because aside from lasting a long time, we especially create a very cheerful environment. In Hong Kong, there isn’t another place that can replicate this.”

Wong, who started working at the carnival when it debuted in 2014, admits the event can be difficult and tiring – the fair opens daily, throughout Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year.
“Every year, I consider [whether to continue with] the job for a long time. But I come back because of the group of [game] supervisors. They’re really like a team. Even though this job is quite hard, the team really gives me the feeling of family.”
Denmark cites two reasons as to why he thinks the carnival still resonates with the Hong Kong public after a decade.
“There is a work-hard, play-hard mentality in any industry here, from taxi drivers all the way through to CEOs,” he says. “[It’s] a natural disposition of everybody in Hong Kong … What we discovered in Hong Kong in particular was that the people like to test themselves with regards to playing games of skill.”

But above all, he attributes the carnival’s success to an atmosphere that can lift anyone’s spirits.
“As soon as they walk in, they let go of whatever it is in life that’s maybe troubling them. They come in here, and they know that they’re in a safe place where they’re going to be entertained and they’re going to have fun together.
“It’s an emotional, loving connection that everybody has here.”
AIA Carnival, Central Harbourfront, until February 16, 2025.


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Lifestyle

Entertainment

Arts & Culture

Running from December 20, 2024 to February 16, 2025, the much-loved event featuring rides, games, even a circus attracts dedicated visitors


Running from December 20, 2024 to February 16, 2025, the much-loved event featuring rides, games, even a circus attracts dedicated visitors.


Hong Kong

Lunar New Year

Christmas

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