The best things to do in Hong Kong this October

Witness Hong Kong through a quirky lens at Cordis, Hong Kong’s new ‘Art in Residence’ exhibition, featuring a series of surreal digital art pieces created by Tommy Fung where our city’s iconic landmarks and cultural touchpoints are juxtaposed against humorously impossible scenarios. Fung is known for his whimsical, Photoshop-manipulated images – from transforming the Hong Kong Space Museum into a giant Chiikawa head and inserting a snacking panda into a wet market stall narrative, to creating a Tesla Cybertruck version of the iconic Hong Kong red taxi, nothing’s off limits for the Hong Kong artist. ‘SurrealHK: The City Reimagined’ is part of Cordis, Hong Kong’s 10th anniversary celebrations, so mark the occasion with the hotel while taking in some fun art.

From August 1 to October 31, the Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) is staging a centenary tribute to Fung Wong-nui, the Cantonese opera legend, to celebrate her impact on Chinese performing arts. Screenings of 16 classic films starring the seminal actress will be shown as part of ‘Phoenix on the Silver Screen – A Centenary Tribute to Fung Wong Nui’ in the HKFA’s Morning Matinee series, making Fung’s influential work accessible to a wider audience.

HKFA has curated a selection of Fung’s films under four categories – ‘Gems of Cantonese Opera,’ ‘The Unforgettable Villainess,’ ‘Martial Heroine,’ and ‘Comedy and Drama’ – to give audiences a comprehensive overview of the actress’s accomplishments and versatile style. Post-screening talks will take place after select screenings, led by notable figures in the performing arts industry such as Cantonese opera veteran Professor Yuen Siu-fai and Ko Lai, one of Fung’s own disciples.

Head to Oasis at the Central Market on October 9 for the third edition of the Central Market x Stormies Oktoberfest. Get stuck in with roasted pork knuckle, grilled Nuremberg sausages, as well as renowned brews like Löwenbräu and Franziskaner Weissbier. German folk band Die Notenhobler will also be on stage to keep up the Oktoberfest vibes.

This year’s event also sees the first-ever Kids & Family Oktoberfest, filled with family-friendly fun like games booths, face painting, and specially curated mini burgers and gelato. The children’s version of this festival runs on Sundays from 3pm to 7pm.

Christie’s Asia Pacific is commemorating the first anniversary of its new Henderson headquarters with a slew of autumn auctions, among them a sale highlighting Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art as part of the launch of this new department. Leading the event is a rare, newly reattributed figure of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion – an exquisite gilded copper alloy sculpture that is emblematic of a new art style that rose to prominence during the 13th-century Yuan court under the purview of Aniko, the renowned Nepalese artist. Other notable pieces include the figure of Manjushri and a rare thangka attributed to the 10th Karmapa, Choying Dorje, depicting parinirvana. Now’s your chance to see these masterpieces before they head into private collections.

From the Magnavox Odyssey – the first home-use video gaming console – to the latest Nintendo Switch 2 release, gamers have seen the rise and fall of many trends and technologies from the 70s to the present day, and you can now reminisce on them all at this exhibition on gaming, its art and designs, and collective memories.

Airside is hosting the ‘Restart! Beyond Gaming Exhibition!’, which explores how gaming extends beyond simple personal entertainment and has become an integral part of Hong Kong’s cultural tapestry. Check out the wall of gaming consoles to find vintage consoles such as the Atari 2600 from the 70s, the Nintendo Famicom from the 80s, over 300 Nintendo games from the 80s and 90s, and more; and try your hand at ‘The King of Fighters ‘98’ and ‘Bubble Bubble’ on arcade machines.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ‘Little Fighter 2’, the exhibiton will feature the remastered game with an Airside-exclusive backdrop of the famous Kowloon Walled City for an added touch of Hong Kong heritage.

De Sarthe is inaugurating its new gallery space in the Southside with a new solo exhibition featuring contemporary Hong Kong artist Lazarus Chan. ‘Poetics Policy’ is an immersive journey that investigates the influence of policy-making on art, reality, and machine intelligence through multimedia and interactive artworks. Adding a dystopian touch, the exhibition features an AI-built living system as an imagined simulation of the future, which is governed by the artist, but used to emphasise that the essence of art is found in the policies guiding its creation, rather than in the generated texts or imagery.

As part of the celebration surrounding its new gallery space in the Southside, De Sarthe is launching two exhibitions concurrently. ‘20th Century Narratives – In Conversation’, the gallery’s second show, presents a curated collection of post-war and modern paintings and sculptures, featuring the likes of Yayoi Kusuma, Marc Chagall, Giorgio de Chirico, Chu Teh-chun, Joan Miró, Henry Moore, Jack Tworkov, Bernar Venet, and Zao Wou-ki as they are brought together to represent a transcontinental artistic exchange.

Following Grand Hyatt Hong Kong’s immersive Le Petit Chef dining experience, the hotel is set to unveil ‘The Magic Table’, a brand-new dining experience that fuses captivating 3D projection mapping technology with exceptional fare. From September 19 onwards, this one-of-a-kind show features Thommy Ten & Amélie van Tass from America’s Got Talent, as they deliver dazzling magic performances and storytelling to leave guests enthralled. During ‘‘The Magic Table’, diners can choose from the Wizard’s Essentials ($1,550 per person) or the Grand Illusion ($1,850 per person) to enjoy a curated menu with sumptuous dishes like beef tartare, foie gras with port wine gel, butternut pumpkin topped with potato foam, a choice between surf or turf for mains, and a delectable chocolate sphere with poached peaches to conclude.

Vegetarian diners will enjoy the Enchanted Garden menu ($1,150 per person), featuring sumptuous options such as beetroot tartare and baked celeriac. Little ones can also join in the fun with the Young Magician’s Feast ($750 per child), ensuring an unforgettable experience for the whole family.

Tai Kwun Contemporary is presenting a two-part exhibition under the theme ‘Stay Connected: Art and China Since 2008’. Centred around an expansive exploration of the transformations and social shifts within 21st-century China brought about by the prolific spread of the internet and digital technologies, the first chapter will take over all three floors of the JC Contemporary art spaces, running for a little over three months.

‘Stay Connected: Navigating the Cloud’ will present more than 50 pieces mapping the creative pursuits of over 35 artists and groups whose practices are influenced by social media, the internet, and digital technologies. Divided into themed segments such as artificial intelligence, information bubbles, online communities, and more, the showcase explores how to ‘stay connected’ in today’s world. Li Shuang, Li Yi-fan, Miao Ying, Wong Ping, Lu Yang, Shao Chun, Zhang Yibei, and the Xijing Men collective are among the many artists exhibiting. Collaborative duo Sun Yuan & Peng Yu – whose claim to fame is the Can’t Help Myself kinetic sculpture with a robotic arm – is also participating.

This exhibition at M+ showcases 12 immersive installations by pioneering women artists from Asia, Europe, and the Americas, including three new works by Asian artists. Visitors can actively engage with the environments, such as Aleksandra Kasuba’s Spectral Passage (1975), which invites individuals to journey through interconnected nylon structures as a metaphor of the life cycle; Judy Chicago’s Feather Room (1966), an all-white space filled with 300 pounds of feathers; and more.

Head to the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) to find our city’s first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to Mughal art. The Mughal empire was one of the world’s most powerful kingdoms that encompassed much of modern-day Indian, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, ruling from the 16th to the 17th centuries. Though they ruled a mainly Hindu population, the Mughals were Muslim with Mongol origins, and were known for their rich culture and architecture – the Taj Mahal is one such legacy from this empire.

Over 100 artefacts from the golden age of the Mughal dynasty, from paintings and jewellery to weaponry, architectural segments, and even some rare surviving textiles from this period are now on show – Hong Kong is this exhibition’s only Asia venue after its London premiere in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Under the rule of three emperors, the Mughal court greatly fostered artistic development and embraced cross-cultural influences, shown here in jade pieces that have incorporated motifs from the Chinese court. Highlights include a casket with mother-of-pearl inlays, a thumb ring from Emperor Akbar’s reign with western enamelling that shows the Mughal court’s hybrid aesthetic, and a beautiful dagger sheath and hilt lavishly decorated with gold and red gemstones.

‘Treasures of the Mughal Court’ runs until February 23, 2026, and tickets are priced from $150 which also grants access to HKPM’s thematic exhibitions in galleries one to seven.