Kowloon City Stories / Culture

Kowloon City Tin Hau Festival

Performers on parade in Kowloon City during Tin Hau Festival
The Kowloon City venue for Tin Hau Festival celebrations
A statue of Tin Hau on parade in Kowloon City

Enjoy the fabulous parade to celebrate the birthday of Tin Hau! Since 1992, Kowloon City has been celebrating the birthday of the goddess Tin Hau on the 22nd day of the third lunar month, when Chiu Chow yingge folk dancers would lead a parade through the historical streets of the district as the Argyle Street Playground transforms into a venue for worship and theatre.

The district’s original Tin Hau Temple was said to be built along the shore on Tak Ku Ling Road, but later forced to move to the current location of Kowloon City Market due to land reclamation. After the temple was destroyed during the Second World War, the statue of Tin Hau found its way to Kowloon Walled City while villagers rebuilt the temple. When the slum was demolished, the statue was given to a group of believers for safekeeping, and is now placed in a flat on Tak Ku Ling Road. The statue’s symbolic arrival at the Argyle Street Playground has marked the start of every Tin Hau Festival ever since.

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