Hong Kong Events - May 2027
May 2027 is the long-weekend month. Labour Day opens it on Saturday 1 May, and Buddha's Birthday on Thursday 13 May gives the second long weekend, running through 16 May. That same Thursday is the main day of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, the strangest and best of the city's traditional festivals. French May, the city's French arts season, opens early in the month and runs into June. The weather turns properly humid, which changes how Temple Street works: the market is at its best well after dark, and the covered dai pai dong seats and the beer-and-seafood stalls do the heavy lifting while the fortune-tellers work the evening crowd.
🥟 The big dated events
Cheung Chau Bun Festival
📅 Thursday, 13 May 2027 - main day
The island festival famous for its bun towers and the midnight bun-scrambling, with a parade of costumed children and, this year, the main day coinciding with Buddha's Birthday.
Why go: unlike anything else in Hong Kong, and the ferries fill early — go for the day, come back for a late dinner at Temple Street.
📍 Location: Cheung Chau Island
🎟️ Cost: Free to watch on the island; ferry fares apply
🏷️ Categories: TRADITIONAL, FESTIVAL
🗓️ Status: Main day confirmed for 13 May 2027. The full festival period (expected around 10-14 May) is announced by the organisers nearer the time.
Labour Day holiday
📅 Saturday, 1 May 2027
A public holiday, and the start of the long-weekend season.
Why go: the market runs on its holiday timetable and Kowloon fills with local families — good for atmosphere, bad for queues.
📍 Location: Hong Kong-wide
🎟️ Cost: Free
🏷️ Categories: HOLIDAY
🗓️ Status: Confirmed public holiday for Saturday 1 May 2027
Buddha's Birthday long weekend
📅 Thursday 13 - Sunday 16 May 2027
A public holiday on the Thursday, giving a four-day break.
Why go: temples across the city are busy with bathing-the-Buddha ceremonies, and the long weekend puts the market at its holiday busiest — the best four nights of the month to be there.
📍 Location: Hong Kong-wide; temples in Yau Ma Tei and Tsim Sha Tsui
🎟️ Cost: Free
🏷️ Categories: HOLIDAY, TRADITIONAL
🗓️ Status: Confirmed public holiday for Thursday 13 May 2027
🇫🇷 Festivals and food and drink
- French May Arts Festival — the city's French arts season, expected from early May into late June, across venues city-wide, with concerts, exhibitions and film. Annual festival; the 2027 programme and dates are not yet published. Keep an eye on frenchmay.com.
- Hong Kong Whisky Festival — expected mid-May. Annual event; 2027 dates not yet confirmed.
- Ginsanity — the gin festival, expected early May in Central. Annual; 2027 dates not yet confirmed.
- Buddhist vegetarian food — the traditional way to mark Buddha's Birthday. Around Yau Ma Tei and Jordan, look for the temple-side vegetarian kitchens rather than market stalls; see the vegetarian guide.
🖼️ Exhibitions and shorter listings
- M+, West Kowloon: Lin Tianmiao and Wang Gongxin: Here and There closes on 9 May 2027; Sarah Sze: Centrifuge and LuYang: DOKU-Māyā Field continue. mplus.org.hk
- Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Sha Tin (free): the final days of Miss You Much. Leslie 70th Birthday, which closes on 10 May 2027. heritagemuseum.gov.hk
- Tai Kwun, Central: the free outdoor programme Chilled Steps runs to 30 June 2027, and the free Movie Steps film series runs to 31 May 2027. taikwun.hk
- Hong Kong Museum of Art, TST (free): the permanent galleries, including Proudly from Canton, are free every day.
- Hong Kong Palace Museum: Brilliance: Ming Dynasty Ceramic Treasures to 2 January 2028.
- Sport, expected: the HKFC Soccer Sevens (late May, Happy Valley) and Mega Ice Hockey 5's (around late April into early May) are annual fixtures with no confirmed 2027 dates yet. Check before travelling.
🧑🍳 Courses and workshops to book this month
- Private Cantonese dim sum class — Cookly lists a three-hour private dim sum class with a professional chef in Kowloon, starting at 10am, at around US$362. Why May: it is air-conditioned, hands-on and reliable in the wet season. cookly.me
- Cantonese dim sum class with a wet-market tour — HK New Oriental Culinary Art's market class takes you through a working wet market first: HK$1,080 per head (minimum two) or HK$890-1,480 for the workshop version. hknoc.com.hk
- Dim sum workshop with tea — Yum Cha, daily 3:30pm to 5:45pm, HK$550 per person including seven dim sum dishes, minimum eight people. Central and Tsim Sha Tsui branches.
- Temple Street Night Market Foodie Experience — Walk in Hong Kong's 2-3 hour evening walk with three street snacks, claypot rice and a singing parlour, meeting at Jordan MTR. In May the cooler part of the evening is the right time to start. walkin.hk
- Tai chi at dawn — LCSD runs year-round classes across Yau Tsim Mong, many free; the early-morning hours are the only sensible ones in May's humidity. lcsd.gov.hk
🧭 Practical notes for May
- Humidity and rain: by May the city is hot and wet, and afternoon downpours are normal. Carry an umbrella, and plan the market for after dark when it is cooler and the stalls are all trading.
- Long weekends: 1 May and 13-16 May are the busiest stretches of the month in Kowloon. Book hotels and any timed event early.
- Getting there: Jordan MTR is the closest station; if it pours, the station exits put you within a short walk of the covered part of the market. See how to get here.
- Timing: check the opening hours and closing time pages before a special trip.
- Entry and prices: free to walk; food and readings are paid, and any quoted price is indicative. See the 2027 food guide and fortune-telling.
- Free alternatives: the Tin Hau Temple, the Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market and the Hong Kong Museum of Art in TST are all free.
- Before you travel: festival dates and line-ups firm up through the spring. Check Discover Hong Kong or the best time to visit.
