Hong Kong gearing up for Colourful Chinese New Year Celebrations

Tonight, the first evening of Lunar New Year, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) will present the 2008 Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade to usher in the Year of the Rat. This parade marks the 13th staging and the 10th consecutive time it is being sponsored by Cathay Pacific. It is also the first time that American Express International, Inc. joins the parade as the parade route sponsor.

This year, the parade will take place in Tsim Sha Tsui for the third time, featuring a vivid combination of 12 floats, 12 international and 13 local performing groups, which epitomises the cosmopolitan image of Hong Kong. Heralding the theme of “Riding High – Hong Kong Spectacular!”, the parade will follow a brand-new route. 

Starting at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, the procession will make its way along Salisbury Road to Mody Lane, then U-turn and end at New World Centre. Spectators will be able to get the best view of the parade from three designated performance zones set up along Salisbury Road.

As well as bringing together diverse and entertaining performances, the HKTB is adding interactive elements to this year’s event. For instance, spectators will be mesmerised by the stilt-walking stunts by French performing group, Futurist Ostriches. They will also be able to admire for the first time ever in the event, traditional piu sik parade (children on float) performed by Zhanjiang Wuzhou Piu Sik together with piu sik team from Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Island.

The parade will be televised live on Television Broadcasts Limited’s Jade Channel and webcast is also available on HKTB’s Discoverhongkong.com website. Those who would like a closer look of the floats can visit New World Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui, on 8-10 February, when the brightly illuminated floats will be on public display.

Selected international and local performing groups will also stage their performances again to entertain the crowds.

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