3-Day Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance kicks off

The annual three-day-long Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance kicked off on Thursday evening, and is expected to attract over 30,000 tourists to view the traditional spectacle.

Welcoming the arrival of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance this year includes 300 performers carrying a 67-metre-long dragon covered in 12,000 incense sticks.

Younger participants will join the parade carrying a smaller version of the mythical animal with hopes of bringing good fortune to every resident of Tai Hang.

This spectator said he would come to watch the parade every year, adding that he loves the atmosphere and enjoys the fact that children get to join in on the fun.

With the smell of rich incense filling the air, many of those gathered here could expect to be given an incense stick from the dragon's body as a sign of luck.

But it's not only locals who took part in the deeply traditional activity.

It's the first time I've been here.

It's nice, it's good.

The only thing is it takes a while.

We were here at like 6:30 or 7.

I would have expected it to come a bit earlier, but we're here now, and we're having fun, so that's nice.

This as Commissioner for Tourism Chan Wai-yan expects the three-day event could attract some 90,000 people to Tai Hang, with tourists making up 30,000 of them.

She believes many travellers will also take the opportunity to visit Victoria Park and enjoy the city's lantern festivals after seeing the dragon dance, stressing that the traditional event helps to convince tourists to remain in the city overnight.