Tai O Cultural Festival 2021

This colourful four-day programme celebrates the local customs and folklore of Tai O, Hong Kong’s famous fishing village on stilts, while introducing visitors to its industries, food and handicrafts.

Tai O Store

A tasty treasure hunt in Tai O village will showcase local attractions with elements of modern design and traditional culture. 70 tertiary students have been recruited to help redesign local store logos, with menus, uniforms and shop layouts to match.

Ø Local Tai O food reflects the long history of this Lantau Island fishing village and its distinctive flavours. Shrimp paste stores are stocked with produce of the local factory that has stood for three generations. Dried, locallysourced seafood including mullet roe, squid and shrimp comes from the village’s own drying factory where craftsmen and women have developed their own techniques.

Ø Leaflets describing the produce and stores will be given to tourists and visitors and those who collect a stamp from each store will receive a Tai O gift as a souvenir. Meanwhile, young volunteers from the HKFYG Hong Kong Youth Ambassadors will act as guides to local history and the discovery of Tai O culture.

Stilt Houses

The origins of the local fishing community can be traced back to the Song dynasty. Local people lived on boats before moving into houses built on stilts over the water, known in Cantonese as pang uk [ 棚 ]. The wood used to build them is resistant to rot and their structure reveals the folk wisdom of their builders, withstanding the rise and fall of the tides.

Ø An experiential exhibition incorporating the building of an imitation pang uk stilt house will help visitors imagine the lives of the community and their homes. Events such as the catastrophic 21st century fires and typhoons will be presented in a performance illustrating local life.

Tai O Sampans

During the heyday of the fishing industry, local people mainly used sampans for transport and for delivering goods.

Ø Folk memory revival tours will reenact the waterborne service, bringing fanciful images of gondolas in Venice to the minds of visitors.

Ø A glimpse of the Tai O waterways from a sampan sculled by a skillful boatman weaving between stilt houses to the sound of sea shanties [ 鹹水歌 ] will revive melodies of old Tai O for the audience.

River Parade

A River Cruise and Carnival on dragon boats, sampans and wedding boats, will show off decorations by local artists according to traditional designs. Performers afloat will depict fishermen’s families on houseboats and brides and grooms on wedding boats.

Ø As the fleet parades through the waterways, it will create the atmosphere of a living maritime museum, bringing to life the culture of the old fishing village. Meanwhile, a host on a stage over the water will explain the different types of decorated boats in both Chinese and English.

Traditional Festivals

Tai O’s intangible cultural heritage includes events such as the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Birthday of Kwan Tai and Dragon Boat Festival and an exhibition will show visitors their significance to the local people.

Ø A special part of Tai O’s culture is the Water Wedding and several Hong Kong couples are being recruited online to perform a mock-water wedding. The “brides” will sing traditional songs and perform the chants of their ancestors according to the threeday and three-night custom, thanking their parents for looking after them. Meanwhile, a band called a dang dang peng ( 噹噹澎 ) will play traditional music.

Sponsors & partners

Co-partner: Tai O Cultural Association Limited

Supported by: Tourism Commission; Hong Kong Tourism Board

Sponsors include: MTR Corporation; Glow Makeup Academy

Participators: ( 響應機構 ): Tai O Rural Committee; Tai O Chinese Chamber of Commerce; Hong Kong Interior Design Association; Hong Kong Cruise and Yacht Industry Association; 360 Holidays Limited; Lantau Tours Limited

Organized by HKFYG Cultural Services Unit

Enquiries: Michelle Ho 2395 5753