The Best Things to Do in Hong Kong This Week

The week's biggest cultural moment, and it costs nothing. Hong Kong's seventh lunar month runs to 11 September 2026, but this week brings its emotional centre: Ghost Day, observed on the eve of Wednesday 26 August and the 15th itself, Thursday 27 August. Temporary Yu Lan grounds and nail-free bamboo theatres (戲棚) rise on open ground across the city, staging Chiu Chow shen gong opera for the gods, ghosts and passers-by, while families burn paper offerings and hand out "peace rice" (平安米) at the kerbside. There's no ticket and no fixed venue — follow the smell of incense and the clang of opera gongs after dark, keep a respectful distance, and never step over an offering. Our Hungry Ghost Festival guide has the full etiquette and what to expect.

CATS The Musical (《貓》) continues its run at the Xiqu Centre's Grand Theatre through to 6 September, with shows Tuesday to Friday at 7:30pm and Saturday–Sunday matinees and evenings. Tickets run HK$388 to HK$1,288 depending on tier and whether the performance is peak (Friday, Saturday or Sunday matinee), with family packages of four from HK$2,888 via Cityline and Klook. Under-5s aren't admitted. The Xiqu Centre is a five-minute walk from Austin MTR Station, Exit D. Our CATS The Musical guide has seating tiers and booking details.

A new four-weekend festival is taking over Hong Kong's Southern District, and its second instalment lands this weekend. SouthSide Summer, presented by UMAMI Events, Astro Entertainment Group and Carnaby Fair, runs Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August across Murray House in Stanley and The Repulse Bay. Expect a two-floor UMAMI Dayparty with DJs from Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand as part of The Road to Shi Fu Miz's 10th-anniversary edition, a Chess Club x Mahjong Rave, and a pop-up marketplace at Murray House, while The Repulse Bay runs as the festival's wellness hub with sound baths, Pilates and yoga residencies. Individual sessions are ticketed separately and run roughly HK$100 to HK$500 through Megatix — book ahead, as capacity is limited.

Last call for the wave pool turned retro dance floor. Canton Beats, Water World Ocean Park's Cantopop DJ pool party and part of the Beat The Summer festival, plays its final weekend from 6:30pm to 9:30pm on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August before the run closes on 31 August. Confirmed DJs include South Korea's DJ Sura, Malaysia's DJ Amber Na, DJ Kixon and Doctor DJ SunB, spinning Cantopop remixes and 80s golden oldies under a full poolside light show. Prices vary by date and ticket type — Ocean Park annual members can get in from as low as HK$69. It's a short signed walk from Ocean Park MTR Station on the South Island Line. Our Canton Beats guide has the full line-up and getting there.

This is genuinely the last week to catch it. "Ancient Egypt Unveiled: Treasures from Egyptian Museums" has drawn crowds to the Palace Museum since November, gathering statuary, sarcophagi, gilded funerary pieces and mummies in one of the biggest ancient-Egypt loans the city has hosted — and it closes for good on Sunday 31 August. It's cool, cavernous and a good match for the last sticky days of summer, and pairs neatly with the Forbidden City and the World galleries in the same building. Book a timed slot before it's gone — weekend sessions sell out fastest. Our Ancient Egypt guide has the details.

The summer's cutest ticket has just under two weeks left to run. Chiikawa Artiverse — the biggest official outing yet for the wildly popular Japanese characters — opened at K11 MUSEA on 1 August and runs through to 6 September. Expect four immersive zones, more than 130 original sketches, giant character installations and a world-first Chiikawa-Go-Round carousel, plus exclusive merch. Weekend slots go fast, so book a timed ticket through Klook before you go. Our Chiikawa Artiverse guide has the zones, tickets and tips.

An 11-room immersive bubble experience at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, with oversized bubbles, mirror illusions, a VR journey and a giant bubble pool across roughly 27,000 sq ft — but note the terminal is not a step-out-of-the-MTR venue, so build in a short onward hop. Tickets from HK$170 (child) / HK$210 (adult), card payment only, and the run closes for good on Sunday 31 August. Our Bubble Planet guide has full ticket tiers and transport.

Old-school trolley service is having a moment, and Canto Jade (粵翠) is the newest, grandest example. The Cantonese fine-diner opened 30 July on the fifth floor of Cityplaza in Quarry Bay, pairing rolling dim sum carts with a Song dynasty-inspired dining room. The signature Eight Delights Dim Sum Birdcage (HK$238 for two) leads a six-dish mains menu running roughly HK$168–238, alongside a takeaway dessert counter called Canto Sweet. It's under two minutes from Tai Koo MTR Station, Exit D1 or E1, both leading directly into the mall. Our Canto Jade guide has the full menu.

The reliable, no-cost way to fill a warm evening: the harbour's nightly light-and-sound show fires up across the skyline every night at 8pm, with towers on both shores pulsing in time to music. Stake out a spot on the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade or the Avenue of Stars about twenty minutes early — it's the harbour's best free show, any night of the week. Our Symphony of Lights guide has the best viewing spots.

When the sun finally drops, head to Kowloon. Start at the Temple Street Night Market for clay-pot rice, cheap eats and fortune-tellers under the neon, then walk north to the Ladies' Market on Tung Choi Street for a kilometre of stalls selling everything from sunglasses to souvenirs. It's hot, loud, cheap and quintessentially Hong Kong — and free unless your bargaining fails you. Our guide to Hong Kong's best markets maps the rest.