Organisers of the threatened Hungry Ghost Festival in Central have been told they will not necessarily have to quit their headquarters when their latest one-year lease with the Urban Renewal Authority runs out in February.
But the 30 House Yue Lan Associates say they still have a sword hanging over their heads because the authority cannot give them a definite time frame for their use of the shop at 62 Staunton Street for the festival, which takes months to organise.
There had been fears that last week's celebration might have been the last, but the authority said the festival could carry on until it had acquired enough properties in the area to launch the redevelopment, which could take years.
'We don't know when we will actually reclaim the shop because many property owners in the area haven't shown interest in selling their places to us,' a spokesman said.
Celebrations of the Hungry Ghost or Yu Lan festival - marked across the city in late summer or early autumn - have been held in the area for more than a century, and Wong Kan-oi has been organising it from the shop since 1996.
Wong said he was happy that he could stay on a bit longer but wanted to know when he would have to leave. 'We hold the celebration once a year and have to plan months ahead, so it'd be best to know when they will take the place back.
'In a few years' time when they have taken it back, I think I will still do it, but the scale will be much smaller than now,' he said.
