Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance — Attraction in Hong Kong

Superb spectacle! This year (2018) it’s on 23-25 September, with the parade extending to Victoria Park on 24 September) Streets are full of people cheering for the participants. A tradition started more than a century ago, after a typhoon and plague ravaged Tai Hang; evidently the fortune tellers said a Fire Dragon with joss (incense) sticks should be paraded for three days on the full moon through the streets of the village to ward off the plague; a tradition that has continued to the present day. The parade and celebrations happen in the streets of Tai Hang and the best vantage points are Tung Lo Wan road and Wun Sha street in particular. There is a viewing gallery for VIPs but if you walk slightly ahead on Wun Sha street, you should find a good spot. Get there early because by 730pm it is really crowded. Initially there are the little girls with fire lanterns who walk up and down, posing for photos, followed by the drummers. Then the Fire Dragon makes its appearance from Wun Sha Street from opposite Bak Kut King restaurant and winds its way up and down. Great experience and the energy levels of the dragon dancers is something else. If you can’t handle crowds, then try and leave early as every street and bylane is packed with people trying to get a better view; exits are through the narrow lanes of the village which eventually lead out to Tung Lo Wan road,...

If you are at Hong Kong now, then just don't miss this...a tradition that dates back more than hundred years and passed on to every new generation of Hong Kong. The 'village' - Tai Hang, where it all began, the landscape has changed completely with skyscrapers around, but this tradition and the fiesta has not changed over the years. The three days festivity has started on 23rd Sep and it would go on till 25th Sep. What amazed me on my very first outing to the fire dragon dance - Spirit of the people..simply amazing!! Perhaps, this is what has been passed on to many generations over a century and this celebration has become a part of Hong Kong's culture during the 'Mid-Autumn' festival. Salute to the spirit of Hong Kong in carrying on this age-old tradition. If you are around, just don't miss this over next two days...the event starts around 8pm and lasts nearly...

Each year around September or October, to celebrate the annual Mid-Autumn Festival, the Tai Hang Residents' Welfare Association (大坑坊眾福利會) organises the Fire Dragon Dance( 舞火龍) at the invitation of the Hong Kong Tourism Board( 香港旅遊發展局).

This dance initially starts off around Ormsby Street, before circling into Wun Sha Street, where there is a main stand or sitting area for the officials watching, built just outside of the Hong Kong Housing Society's building. All other viewers must queue on the pavements of this Wun Sha Street, which becomes very crowded from 7:30pm onwards, and the pavements are usually all fenced off also, to prevent the viewers from crossing or wondering onto the roads where the actual Dragon dance is taking place.

All in all it is a sight worth watching, the smoke and sweat on the participants, the never...