Vendors hope to get their fill as cooked food returns to Hong Kong new year fairs

Lunar New Year fairs are being held at 15 locations across the city. But under pandemic restrictions, only wet goods stalls for vendors to sell flowers were permitted for the past four years.

Four vendors on Monday successfully placed bids ranging from HK$180,000 (US$23,045) to HK$220,000 to secure food stalls at two main entrances to Victoria Park in Causeway Bay.

A spokesman for the department said all 175 stalls for wet goods were auctioned on Monday, with bids ranging from HK$6,530 to $84,000 and totalling more than HK$5.1 million by the end of the day. Bids reached about HK$4.8 million for the 120 wet goods stalls last year, he added.

Jason Ng, owner of a food stall on Temple Street, won one with a bid of HK$192,000, a price he described as “fair and expected”.

He said he planned to invest at least HK$700,000 to run the stall over the seven days and expected about 60 to 70 per cent of the turnover he had before the pandemic.

Ng said he was not too worried about traffic at the fair despite a growing trend of residents travelling to mainland China over holidays.

“This is not something I can control,” he said. “Surely we cannot compete with the mainland.”

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Vendor Tommy Fung, another winning bidder, said he was hopeful that locals would stay in Hong Kong and attend the fair as part of the celebrations.

Other than traditional snacks such as fish balls and siu mai, he planned to sell new items including abalone skewers and crispy roasted pork, for about HK$40 a set on average.

“The fair may attract more young people and I expect traffic to be better,” he said, adding that his optimism stemmed from the great success he had seen at the recent Wine and Dine Festival.

A department spokesman on November 1 announced that 902 wet goods stalls, 572 dry goods stalls, eight thematic stalls and 25 fast food stalls would be provided at 15 fairs across the city.

Department Senior Superintendent Hui So-hing on Monday said the fierce bidding for food stalls “had reflected the market to a certain degree”. The base price set at HK$120,470 was 40 per cent lower than 2019 before the pandemic, she added.

She also expected Hongkongers to be “excited” to go shopping at the fair, as food stalls and a variety of goods would return this year.

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The government-run fairs had previously attracted political parties and creative vendors who sold handicrafts and ornaments tinged with sarcasm before the enactment of the national security law in 2020.

But Hui said authorities would remind licensees about the items they were allowed to sell and patrol the fair to inspect whether merchandise or displays carried messages threatening national security.

“If officers from the department find any goods violating the rules, we will issue a verbal or written warning,” she said.

In January, police raided a Lunar New Year fair not run by the government and arrested six people who allegedly sold seditious items with photographs and text chronicling the 2019 protests.

Hui did not answer questions on whether products would be screened, but reiterated that vendors who failed to comply with the rules and ignored repeated warnings could have their leases terminated.

“It is hard to say what specific words will cross the line,” she said.