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The Tin Hau Festival technically came and went this year on May 9, but major celebrations for this festival span several weeks across Hong Kong. One of these is hosted in Tsing Yi, running from May 17 to 21 this year, featuring Cantonese opera, food stalls, traditional rituals, and more. Here’s everything you need to know about this slice of Hong Kong heritage.
What is the Tin Hau Festival?
The Tin Hau Festival honours the goddess of the sea, and with Hong Kong’s maritime roots, it’s only natural that this festival holds an important place in the cultural heart of our city.
The Tsing Yi bamboo theatre is erected twice each year, during the third and fourth lunar months, to celebrate the Chun Kwan Festival and the Tin Hau Festival in thanks for the deities’ divine blessings.
What are the highlights of the 2026 Tsing Yi bamboo theatre?
Visitors can look forward to over 50 specialty stalls selling food, drinks, and artisan crafts, but apart from being a snack lover’s haven, the Tin Hau Festival grounds in Tsing Yi will also feature a massive bamboo theatre erected specifically for this event – a great show of traditional Hong Kong craftsmanship – as well as towering floral tributes made of paper known as fa pau, or flower cannons in Cantonese.
What is the fa pau ritual at the Tsing Yi bamboo theatre?
During the annual Tin Hau Festival, the Tsing Yi bamboo theatre hosts rituals such as Cantonese opera for appeasing the gods, as well as ceremonies for inviting and sending off deities. It is also tradition for different fa pau associations to prepare new paper floral tributes to be presented to the Tin Hau Temple, as an act of thanksgiving for divine favours bestowed.
Each association can then ‘snatch’ each other’s floral tributes to claim for their own, though this custom has now mostly shifted to the less chaotic option of drawing lots. After the new fa pau have been redistributed, the associations who have obtained a floral tribute will then bring it back to their community, symbolising receiving Tin Hau’s blessings and protection. This ritual also involves able-bodied men lifting their fa pau and bowing three times towards the deity pavilion – hefting these huge towers crafted with paper and bamboo strips is quite a sight.
When is the Tsing Yi bamboo theatre open for the Tin Hau Festival?
The Tsing Yi bamboo theatre will host the Tin Hau celebrations until May 21, from 1pm to 11pm each day. The main celebrations take place on May 19 from 9am to 1pm, during which road closures and traffic controls will be implemented.
Cantonese opera performances will run from 2pm to 5pm, then 7pm to 11pm daily, while the food stalls will be open from 1pm to 11pm throughout the festival period.
Visit the Tin Hau Festival and the Tsing Yi bamboo theatre at the Tsing Yi Athletic Association Sports Ground, 38 Tsing Luk Street, Tsing Yi.
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