Hong Kong to ring in new year without fireworks after deadly apartment blaze

Hong Kong's iconic Victoria Harbour will remain dark this New Year’s Eve, as the city foregoes its traditional fireworks display following a devastating fire that claimed 161 lives in November. The territory will ring in 2026 without the spectacular and colourful explosions that typically light up its famous skyline.

Instead of pyrotechnics, the city's tourism board has organised a music show in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong, featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other performers. Eight prominent landmarks will also participate, transforming their facades into giant countdown clocks for a three-minute light show at midnight.

The absence marks a significant departure from tradition, as fireworks have long been a spectacular centrepiece for New Year’s Day, Lunar New Year, and National Day celebrations. These vibrant displays, set against Hong Kong's world-renowned skyscrapers, typically attract hundreds of thousands of residents and tourists to the harbourfront.

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Rosanna Law, the territory's secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged Tuesday that having no fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.

The financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948 broke out at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po, in late November. The apartment complex was undergoing a months-long renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.

Authorities have pointed to the substandard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread. Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy. The casualties pained many residents across the city.

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Past tragedies in Hong Kong have forced similar cancellations of fireworks. They include the 2013 National Day festivities following a vessel collision that killed 39 people on Oct. 1, 2012, and the 2018 Lunar New Year celebration after a bus crash that left 19 dead. During the 2019 anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple displays also were scrapped.

The origin of fireworks is believed to date to China in the second century B.C., when someone discovered bamboo stalks exploded with loud bangs when thrown into fire, creating the first natural “firecrackers,” according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, a U.S. trade group.

The Guinness World Records organization says the first accurately documented firework, the Chinese firecracker, was created by Li Tian, a monk from China’s Tang dynasty dating to around 618 to 907 C.E. Li discovered that putting gunpowder in enclosed hollow bamboo stems created loud explosions and bound crackers together to create the traditional new Yyear firecrackers to drive out evil spirits, Guinness said.