Hong Kong will welcome 2026 without fireworks over Victoria Harbor after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people, the Associated Press reported.
Fireworks are typically a celebratory centerpiece of Hong Kong’s New Year celebrations, but this year’s skyline was not marked with spectacular explosions. Instead, the territory greeted 2026 with a program staged by its tourism board in Central, a business district that also is home to Lan Kwai Fong.
On Wednesday night, the tourism board hosted a music show in Central featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers. The facades of eight landmarks also became giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.
Rosanna Law, the territory’s secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged Tuesday that not having fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.
Among visitors, Annie Wang, a tourist from Shanghai, said she had planned to watch the fireworks but understood the decision after seeing news of the blaze. “It’s quite regretful. But there’s no way around it after the fire,” Wang said.
Wang Miao, a teacher from Guangzhou, planned to join the official countdown activities in Central despite the absence of fireworks. She said it was a pity she could not see pyrotechnics, but that it would not change her plans for the trip, adding, “It doesn’t affect our experience in Hong Kong.”
By early Wednesday evening, crowds of revelers had already gathered near the performance stage in Central, hoping to secure the best views of the musical performance.
The cancellation followed what authorities described as the financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948. The fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po in late November, as the apartment complex was undergoing a monthslong renovation with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.
Authorities have pointed to substandard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread. The report said thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels as they struggle to recover from the loss of lives and homes.
The New Year fireworks cancellation also fits a wider pattern of past scrapping of major displays after tragedies in Hong Kong, including after a vessel collision in 2013 that led to the cancellation of National Day festivities, and after a bus crash in 2018 that ended Lunar New Year celebrations. During the 2019 anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple displays were also scrapped.
The report also traced cultural roots for fireworks to China in the second century B.C., when, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, someone discovered that bamboo stalks exploded with loud bangs when thrown into fire, creating the first natural “firecrackers.” Guinness World Records said the first accurately documented firework was the Chinese firecracker created by Li Tian, a monk from the Tang dynasty dating to around 618 to 907 C.E., when gunpowder placed in enclosed hollow bamboo stems was said to create loud explosions and bind crackers together for traditional New Year firecrackers to drive out evil spirits.