How Hong Kong got its first Lunar New Year fireworks display
- Banned during the 1967 riots, fireworks were allowed to welcome in the 1982 Lunar New Year
- The ‘spectacular’ display lit up sky above the harbour, heralding an annual tradition in the city
“All set for Year of the Banger?” teased the South China Morning Post on December 17, 1980. “Hongkong may be able to enjoy a fireworks display during the 1982 Lunar New Year celebrations,” continued the report, adding that fireworks were allowed in the colony only on “special occasions” and the last event to have merited such a display was when Queen Elizabeth visited, in 1975.
“Fireworks were originally banned under emergency regulations brought into force in September 1967. The Government’s aim was to remove a vital source of ammunition for communist bombers.”
On July 23, 1981, the Post reported that the fireworks ban would be lifted for Lunar New Year’s Eve “in response to requests from the Hongkong Tourist Association and others” but “no details had been worked out as yet”.
Anticipation for Hong Kong’s first Lunar New Year fireworks display built quickly. A Post article from January 8, 1982, detailed how “More than five tons of fireworks will be set off in a 20-minute show which will be electronically synchronised with a programme of classical music”.
“The display, officially known as ‘The Hongkong Salute to Chinese New Year,’ will be centred in an area of the harbour between the Regent Hotel in Kowloon and the Excelsior Hotel on the Island.”
Organised by the HKTA and sponsored by Jardine Matheson as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations, the inaugural event, held on January 25, “went like a dream”, according to the Post.