Hong Kong rings in 2026 without fireworks after deadliest blaze in decades

Hong Kong has marked the start of 2026 without fireworks over Victoria Harbour after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people.

The city’s tourism board instead hosted a music show on Wednesday night featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong.

The facades of eight landmarks were turned into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.

Fireworks have long been part of the city’s celebrations for the new year.

The pyrotechnic displays against Hong Kong’s world-famous skyline of skyscrapers typically draw hundreds of thousands of people including many tourists to both sides of the promenade.

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

Annie Wang, a tourist from Shanghai, said that although she had planned to watch the fireworks show, she understood the city’s decision because she found news of the blaze heart-wrenching.

“It’s quite regretful. But there’s no way around it after the fire,” the university student said.

Wang Miao, a teacher from the neighbouring economic hub of Guangzhou, planned to join the official countdown activities in Central despite the absence of fireworks. She said it was a pity that she could not see pyrotechnics, but she could understand why.

“It doesn’t affect our experience in Hong Kong,” she said.

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 renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.

Authorities have pointed to the sub-standard 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.

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 October 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 were also scrapped.

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

The Guinness World Records organisation 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 CE.

Li discovered that putting gunpowder in enclosed hollow bamboo stems created loud explosions and bound crackers together to create the traditional New Year firecrackers to drive out evil spirits, Guinness said.