Victoria harbour fireworks will not be halted by Occupy, say organisers
Organisers insist Victoria Harbour event will not be affected by the recent protests
The show will go on. The Tourism Board has vowed to continue its annual New Year countdown over Victoria Harbour despite political instability in the wake of the Occupy protests.
However, the board will liaise with the police on a daily basis, starting nine days before the event.
The biggest countdown event in town, "New Year New World - Hong Kong Countdown Celebrations", will begin eight minutes before midnight on December 31. Last year, it attracted an audience of 380,000 along the harbourfront and was broadcast by local and international media outlets.
The Occupy sit-ins, which ended on Monday as police cleared the last site at Causeway Bay, triggered uncertainty over the staging of such a large-scale event, but the city's tourism promotion body and event sponsor New World Development cast a vote of confidence.
"Unless it was strictly necessary [to cancel it], we would continue with the event," said the board's executive director, Anthony Lau Chun-hon.
For the first time, this year's countdown will feature artificial snow effects, said Mason Hung Chung-hing, event and product development director.