Organisers of the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance are battling dwindling donations and rising costs for materials, despite the 130-year-old event being declared an intangible national cultural heritage in June.
About 300 people carry a 70-metre dragon, punctured with lit incense sticks, through Tai Hang streets for three consecutive nights over the Mid-Autumn Festival period to purge the area of evil spirits. This year it will be from Sunday, starting at 7.30pm each night.
In the past, the parade relied on donations from long-time Hakka villagers. But since developers began buying up flats in the area, the number of Hakka residents has fallen.
The Tai Hang Residents' Welfare Association organises the parade, but when members practise a tradition of visiting homes to ask for donations, they are greeted with unfamiliar residents or empty flats.
The Jockey Club is sponsoring HK$19,000 of the total HK$39,000 cost this year. The Wan Chai District Council usually provides HK$10,000 for the parade, but added HK$1,000 this year due to rising costs. The remainder of the funds came from donations.
A council spokeswoman said it set aside more money than usual for the parade, because of its heritage status in Hong Kong.
An association spokeswoman said the cost of materials went up by 20 per cent this year. 'The price of materials was exceptionally high this year due to inflation,' she said.