From a family run at HK Disneyland and Arts in the Park for the little ones to musical acts like Guns N’ Roses and the Clockenflap music festival, here’s a round-up of the top November events in Hong Kong.
HK Disneyland 10K Weekend
3-4 Nov
If you’re looking for an easy way to get your kids off their digital devices and outdoors for a day, look no further than the Hong Kong Disneyland 10K Weekend. This annual event is open to participants of all ages and sees a series of Minnie (Mouse) Marathons staged within the walls of Uncle Walt’s Wonderland. While teens and above can sign up for the Incredible 10K and Monsters University 5K, littler ones might be best advised to stick to the Toy Story 3K Family Run, preferably with mum and dad in tow.
Hong Kong Disneyland, Lantau Island. HK$260-550.
Arts in the Park 2018
3-4 Nov
By day, this family-friendly festival offers youngsters a chance to unleash their inner artist with a spot of mask making or a feel-good face painting or two. As darkness descends, though, the event is reinvented as a magical, moonlit parade, complete with dazzling giant-sized doppelgangers of many of the most-loved characters from fairytale favourites, including Dorothy, the Scarecrow and – of course – the Wizard of Oz himself. The Grand Finale grandly commences on Sunday night in Victoria Park, before wending its way through Causeway Bay with its comically cartoon delights.
Victoria Park, Causeway Bay. Free. admission.
Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair
8-10 Nov
Hong Kong’s alcoholic beverage boffins better book their rehab now as the HKTDC Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair returns to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, clinking ominously all the way. This year, the international imbibery on offer comes courtesy of no less than 1,000 doughty distillers and boldly-going brewers. So, if you fancy supping on Burkina Faso’s second-best bitter or downing several shots of fine Sumatran sherry, downtown Wan Chai is the place to be for at least three days this month.
Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Dr, Wan Chai.
Clockenflap
9-11 Nov
The 11th iteration of Hong Kong’s best-loved – and, arguably, only – homegrown music and arts festival is set to rock Central Harbourfront this month. This year’s three-day line-up offers all true alfresco entertainment lovers a chance to enjoy live performances from such notable acts as American rapper Khalid, as well as local breakthrough talents like the Cocoonics. Actually, who are we kidding? The real rationale for risking the now-traditional Clockenflap drenching is the UK’s David Byrne, Mr- Big-Suited-Talking-Head himself. It’s a Once in a Lifetime opportunity. Ah, please yourselves.
Central Harbourfront, 9 Lung Wo Rd, Central. HK$640-1,620.
Oxfam Trailwalker
16-18 Nov
The annual Oxfam Trailwalker sees hundreds of robusty ramblers signing up for this ultimate endurance challenge every year – all 100km of the MacLehose Trail in under 48 hours. Since 1986, more than 100,000 keen trail-pounders – not all of them men amid mid-life crises with a strange love of lycra – have attempted the trail, raising some HK$572 million for Oxfam in the process. Blood, sweat and tears will be shed, but that will mainly just be among the kids dragged along to cheer their deluded dad.
Race start line: Pak Tam Chung, Sai Kung.
Guns N’ Roses – Not In This Lifetime Tour
20-21 Nov
Just two months after Bob Dylan rocked the stage at AsiaWorld-Expo, another of America’s legendariest musical acts will be bawling: “Good evening Hong Kong, do you know how to rock?” If your answer is not likely to be in the affirmative, it may be best to give this outing by Guns N’ Roses – yet another dysfunctional dispenser of disco-unfriendly ditties that vowed never to reunite, then promptly did – something of a miss. In fact, unless you’re in dire need of a little Welcome to the Jungle, why not skip this entirely and spend your hard-earned Hong Kong dollars on a few hours of David Byrne time, 10 days earlier at Clockenflap? You won’t regret it. Trust us on this one.
AsiaWorld-Expo, Airport Expo Blvd, Chek Lap Kok. HK$688-2,488.
Honma Hong Kong Open 2018
22-25 Nov
Golf lovers are undoubtedly keen to get back into the swing as the Honma Hong Kong Open rolls back into town. First held way back in 1959, this teeing-off tournament claims to be the city’s oldest sporting event and has continually lured in an impressive array of golfing greats. This year is no exception with prominent putters such as Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood all heading Hong Kongwards for the occasion. There is even the promise of bouncy castles for your little ones.
Hong Kong Golf Club, 1 Fan Kam Rd, Sheung Shui. Free admission on Thursday and Friday, HK$400- 600 over the weekend.
Symphony Under the Stars
24 Nov
Is there any better way to take advantage of the cooling temperatures than by venturing out to Central Harbourfront for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual Symphony Under the Stars concert? Well, assuming you were a bit too late on the Clockenflap front, probably not. Led by the HK Phil’s Musical Director, Jaap van Zweden, an evening of the orchestra’s best-loved pieces set against a backdrop of synchronised skyborne pyrotechnics surely can’t be bad. Especially as admission is free.
Central Harbourfront, 9 Lung Wo Rd, Central. Free admission.
Lumières Hong Kong
29 Nov – 2 Dec
After a highly successful debut with over 500,000 attendees last year, Lumières Hong Kong is returning for its second edition with the promise of even more dazzling light installations and breathtaking art projections. The three-day Festival of Lights, inspired by and created in partnership with the rightly-famed Fête des Lumières de Lyon, will see countless historical landmarks, such as Kowloon Park and Tai Kwun transformed by luminous light displays, designed by 15 local and international artists, none of whom, sadly are David Byrne.
