8th November 2022
Summer is over, and autumn, my favorite season of the year, has arrived. The cold breeze, the transition of greenery to autumn foliage, and holiday music played in malls all add to the excitement for the Christmas season. The countdown has started, are you all excited?
But before we start the countdown, I have to go back to one summer day when I went on a trip on a Mid-Autumn Festival day. Don't be confused, because I don't know either why Mid-Autumn Festival is held every summer. From the name itself, it must be during "mid of Autumn", but this festival always falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month in the Chinese calendar which usually happens in September. And as far as I know and have been living here for 5 years, September is still summer here.
This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival fell on the 10th day of September, and the day after that was a public holiday. So basically, my trip happened on the 11th of September. Imagine how long these photos have been staying in my gallery, and they should be posted before the year ends, lol.
#TravelHongKong presents: Wild In The City At Hong Kong SummerFest 2022
Gladly, the annual SummerFest in Hong Kong lasted for 2 months, particularly from the 16th of July to the 18th of September. This gave me the opportunity to attend the annual SummerFest on Mid-Autumn Festival day. I wasn't actually aware of it until I searched for good places to visit on Mid-Autumn Festival day, and the event was included.
The annual event was held near Tamar Park along the Central Harbourfront Event Space with the theme, "Wild in the city". Walking alone along the harbourfront is another great experience. I hadn't been to this harbor in a long time, and I was missing the scenery, so I walked around before heading to the SummerFest.
Lo and behold, the enormous AIA Observation Wheel and the 2nd tallest building in Hong Kong. One of my plans is to ride on this wheel. I might do that in December.
So with and without the SummerFest, there are a lot of things to do along the Central Harbourfront.
I headed to the venue at 3 in the afternoon, and as expected, people were swarming around. I queued for probably ten minutes as visitors need to update and scan the Leave Home Safe app for Covid contact tracing before entering the area. It's quite annoying that we're still stuck following Covid protocols, but people don't seem to be doing social distancing anymore. So it's pointless, right?
The SummerFest venue had a plethora of activities that allowed visitors to have a great outdoor fun experience. The admission was free, and the activities took place from three in the afternoon to ten in the evening.
Outdoor Market
When I entered the venue, the first thing I noticed was a row of white and green tents lining the center section. This was one of the main attractions in the SummerFest organized by LocoLoco which is popular in organizing workshops, markets, and other creative and cultural activities.
An array of outdoor markets offers several handmade design crafts, toys, apparel, accessories, souvenirs, home decorations, even plants, and other products such as traditional Chinese food, from different local stores in Hong Kong. These products are perfect as gift items for this coming Christmas.
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The main purpose of the market was to promote handcrafting and creative culture to the public, and to encourage them to support locally made handcrafts and other products.
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There were also workshops organized to teach participants how to make handcraft products, such as keychains, dreamcatchers, and more.
These dreamcatchers were my favorite among all products in the market.
City Camping x Lumi Forest
The city camping was held in the Lumi forest, and this became the bonding site for some families. There were several tents installed on the site and visitors could occupy them, for as long as they would keep them clean and won't allow any pets inside.
There were also carts where pets can be placed, and camping chairs, and food chests were also available. Visitors can also bring their own tents and set them up on the camping site along with others, and they could enjoy different activities to their content.
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The Lumi Forest has different LED installations that illuminate, especially at night. A giant grasshopper became the main attraction in the forest, and kids truly loved it.
More Fun In The Fest
Within the camping grounds, there was a plethora of connecting inflatable pool rings where kids were thoroughly enjoying shooting pool inflatable balls with other kids while being supervised by their guardians. The summer vibe was truly felt in this area.
Another bonding site for parents and kids was the ping pong art fun. Several Ping Pong Art Fun tables were painted with different art that attracts players to enjoy the game.
Just on the other side were 56 Tumbler Dolls. Those life-sized inflatable dolls became the punching bags of the kids. They were being punched, kicked, and ride on, and kids seemed to be enjoying it.
The Wild Playground provided another opportunity for children to have fun. Some water sprinklers were turned on, and the kids enjoyed playing as if they were in the rain while riding on various inflatable toys.
Inspired by the theme of Wild in the city, an oasis called Desert Mirage was installed just near the wild playground.
Several potted snake plants and cactuses were installed around the desert place. They weren't just artificial, but real plants. The location appeared to have been transformed into another part of the world while retaining an Asian vibe.
Live Stage Performances
A SummerFest won't be complete without live performances and cultural shows. Some local musicians were performing on the main stage when I came across it.
I was able to record the performance of a local band composed of four members: a vocalist, guitarist, lady drummer, and bass musician. If I'm not mistaken, they were singing a Korean song.
You can watch their performance here.
I intended to stay until the lights turned on at night because that was an additional attraction. Furthermore, the SummerFest venue is more visually appealing with numerous neon lights and neon path walks throughout the area. Not only is the venue beautiful, but so is the scenery along the harbor. I heard there were also film nights, which were shown on a massive LED screen near the main stage.
Unfortunately, I was about to charge my low-battery phone after five o'clock in the afternoon. But I discovered that I had forgotten to bring my power bank 🤦♀️. I remembered 
Nonetheless, I enjoyed the half-day SummerFest and I was able to take a lot of photos before my phone drained. When I was about to leave, the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon. With the assistance of a Filipina, I made sure to take the final souvenir shot along the harbor where the sunset was evident.
Living in an expensive country makes people grind the whole week, there is no room for slacking here. The SummerFest was truly a great initiative to allow residents to at least, unwind from the hustling work, and escape from the bustling city life while spending quality time with their families outdoors.
I'm looking forward to attending the SummerFest next year 😊.
Thanks for stopping by.
(All photos are mine)
