Freespace fair in West Kowloon lets audience join in on the action

Three giant "seagulls" marauded through picnickers yesterday, stealing tissues and snaffling food at the West Kowloon waterfront promenade, but rather than a pest issue, it was a performance.

The interactive programming was part of a last-minute change by organisers of Freespace Fest 2014, a two-day annual festival, to give visitors a more hands-on experience and offer more than music at the free event, priced at HK$50 initially.

Those changes came after the organisers, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, acknowledged some weeks ago that the Occupy Central sit-ins had transformed the city's outdoor culture and shown a desire for open public spaces.

Still, a generational divide existed between young people who used open spaces and their parents who opted to stay at home or to shop, media and design student Chu Man-nga said.

"I told my parents and younger brother about this event, that it was free and we could use the space to enjoy music and art, but they said they didn't understand art so they were staying at home."

Chu said she had previously joined other events encouraging the public to prepare a picnic or bring a book and sit out in parks, to overcome reservations about touching the grass.