Where to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Hong Kong in 2023, from family-friendly workshops at The Ritz-Carlton and Central Market, to watching fireworks over bubbly at the Mandarin Oriental

Dec 22 , 2023

Partygoers at Vista Italian restaurant will enjoy unrivalled views of the New Year’s Eve fireworks. Photos: Handouts

Central Market is celebrating Hong Kong’s iconic LT Duck while offering Christmas activities, while The Ritz-Carlton has partnered with Montblanc and is holding gingerbread house-making workshops

The Mandarin Oriental’s Mandarin Club lets you watch the fireworks from Hong Kong side, or you could catch the action from Kowloon side at the Regent hotel lobby or Vista Italian restaurant

Eat, drink and be merry may be the standard Christmas commandments, but there’s more to the holiday season in Hong Kong than just hedonistic pleasures (no matter how flavoursome). If you’re able to pull yourself away from the bar or dining room, here are the best seasonal events happening this year.

1. Central Market

At Central Market, a Christmas tree features LT Duck ornaments, while a giant LT Duck installation delights visitors on the terrace

There are winter markets throughout Hong Kong and while Central Market’s might not have the charm of traditional European-style stalls, it makes up for it with a breadth of activities. There’s a large-scale installation dedicated to one of Hong Kong’s earliest plastic toys, the LT Duck, created by Lam Leung-tim in 1948, and ducks feature throughout the venue.

It’s not all toys and shopping at Central Market though. Between Christmas Eve and December 30, the centre is collaborating with organisations including the Fringe Club, Kings Rhythmic Gymnastics Ballet Academy, Greenery Music and New Wave Music to offer visitors live music and dance performances.

For those wanting to get hands-on with activities, on December 24, 25, 26 and 31, there will be Christmas workshops themed around The Little Prince in celebration of the story’s 80th anniversary. Creative maker options will include Christmas terrariums, French braided mini Christmas wreaths, and handmade lip balms.

Central Market, 93 Queen’s Road Central, Central

2. The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong

The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong’s pastry chef is leading children and their parents through the making of a gingerbread house

This Christmas, the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong is teaming up with luxury brand Montblanc for the first time. Together they are decking out the five-star hotel in captivating Christmas decorations centred on a resplendent wishing tree that will marry the beauty of a winter landscape with origami decorations that reflect Montblanc’s roots in writing culture. Pens will adorn the tree and can be used to write postcards to loved ones inside an igloo adjacent to the tree. There are also gingerbread-house-making workshops for kids and their parents. Led by the hotel’s pastry chef, participants will design and build their own gingerbread house and then take it home to display (and devour).

The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon