2026 Chinese New Year Fairs Attract 2.65 Million Visitors, Conclude Successfully with Enhanced Safety and Recycling Efforts

FEHD's Chinese New Year fairs concluded successfully

The 2026 Chinese New Year (CNY) fairs concluded successfully at 7 am today (February 17). The fairs were held at 14 locations for seven days from February 11, attracting about 2.65 million visitors. Yesterday (February 16) was the peak, with more than 210 000 visitors in the CNY Fair at Victoria Park on a single day.

A spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said that, this year the FEHD arranged festive music and photo spots at the CNY fairs, as well as lion dance performances and souvenir distribution, which were well received by the public. The FEHD expressed gratitude to the relevant departments for their support and to the stall licensees for their co-operation with the management measures, which helped to keep the fair sites clean, safe and orderly. The department is pleased to see members of the public actively supporting and enjoying the fairs which operation has been smooth in general.

This year, the FEHD continued to apply technological measures to monitor the venues for implementation of crowd control as necessary. The footfall of individual CNY fairs was displayed on the FEHD website with a view to enabling the public to know about the crowd conditions at the fairs early. The FEHD has also offered assistance to stall licensees in various aspects such as security and refuse collection to ensure the smooth operation of the CNY fairs.

The department adopted various waste reduction and recycling measures. In addition to clearly labeling litter bins and recycling bins with different tags, the department has arranged on-site staff to remind the public to dispose of waste properly. Apart from collecting general recyclables such as waste paper, plastics and metals at the fairs, the department also arranged for contractors to collect bamboo sticks, wooden pallets, polyfoam and wilted or unsold flowers, all of which have reusable value. From the opening of the CNY fair sites up to the site clearance operation today, about 113 tonnes of materials with reusable value were collected from the 14 CNY fair sites to enhance resource recycling. Furthermore, food waste recycling was practised in the CNY fairs with fast food stalls.

Moreover, the FEHD also gathered some 1 853 unsold pots of flowers and plants donated by licensees at the fairs. These were delivered to 251 elderly homes/residential care homes for persons with disabilities and seven public hospitals by 22 volunteer teams comprising FEHD staff members.

With the CNY fairs concluded successfully, the department deployed about 250 staff members and 50 refuse collection vehicles and street washing vehicles to clean the Victoria Park venue. The other 13 CNY fair sites were cleaned up by the department's cleansing contractors. All site clearance work was completed at about 7 pm. After thorough cleaning, the venues were restored to their original state.

Despite the conclusion of CNY fairs, the Che Kung Festival Fair and the Fong Ma Po New Year Fair at Lam Tsuen in Tai Po will be held until March 3. The spokesman reminded members of the public planning to visit the two fairs that they may browse information, including the opening hours of the fairs, on the FEHD's webpage in advance.

Photo shows the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr Donald Ng (centre) and volunteers extending New Year greetings to elderly persons at a residential care home for the elderly. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Photo shows the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, and the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr Donald Ng, taking a group photo with the volunteer teams and cleansing workers at the temporary flower collection point. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Photo shows the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr Donald Ng (third left), giving flowers to elderly persons at a residential care home for the elderly. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Photo shows cleansing workers cleaning up the Victoria Park CNY Fair site after the fair ended. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Photo shows the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan (third right), and the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr Donald Ng (second right), inspecting cleansing workers cleaning up the Victoria Park CNY Fair site after the fair ended. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Employers, contractors and employees should be aware of electrical safety at work during rainstorms

As the rainstorm warning has been issued by the Hong Kong Observatory, the Labour Department (LD) reminds employers and contractors that they should adopt necessary work arrangements and take suitable safety measures to protect the safety of their employees when they are carrying out electrical work or handling electrical plant.

The Labour Department (LD), Photo source: reference image

A spokesman for the LD said today (April 4) that employers and contractors should avoid assigning employees to carry out electrical work (such as electric arc welding work) or handle electrical plant at places affected by rainstorms, and should refer to the "Code of Practice in Times of Adverse Weather and 'Extreme Conditions'" and the "Guide on Safety at Work in times of Inclement Weather" issued by the LD.

Even if electrical work is carried out or electrical plant is handled at places not affected by a rainstorm, suitable safety measures must still be adopted to prevent an electric shock as the air would be more humid. Such measures include:

(i) Ensure that all live parts of an electrical installation are isolated from the power supply source and rendered dead, and the isolation from the power supply source must be maintained as long as electrical work is being carried out;

(ii) Before carrying out any electrical work or handling any electrical plant, cut off and lock out the power supply source, then test the circuit concerned to confirm that it is dead and display suitable warning notices, and issue a work permit thereafter;

(iii) Ensure that protective devices (such as suitable and adequate fuses and circuit breakers) for the electrical installations or electrical plant have been installed and maintained in good working order, and portable electric tools must be double-insulated or properly earthed;

(iv) Provide suitable personal protective equipment such as insulating gloves and insulating mats for employees; and

(v) If live electrical work is unavoidable, a comprehensive risk assessment should be conducted by a competent person and the appropriate safety precautions should be taken to remove or properly control the electrical hazards involved before such work can proceed.

In addition, employees should co-operate with the employer or contractor to follow the safety instructions and use the safety equipment provided.

The LD has published guidebooks and leaflets on electrical work safety. These safety publications are available free from divisional offices of the department or can be downloaded from its website (www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/content2_8.htm).

Should there be any questions about occupational safety and health matters, please contact the Occupational Safety Officer of the LD at 2559 2297.

Photo source: reference image