Cover ‘Kooza’ by by Cirque du Soleil is one of the unmissable Hong Kong events in May (Photo: Instagram/@kooza.cirquedusoleil)
‘Kooza’ by by Cirque du Soleil is one of the unmissable Hong Kong events in May (Photo: Instagram/@kooza.cirquedusoleil)
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A terracotta army exhibition, an avant-garde film festival, ‘Giselle’ ballet, Mozart’s music and more… Hong Kong events in May make sure you get your monthly dose of arts and culture
Hong Kong is far from quieting down after art month in March and the Hong Kong Film Awards in April. Many exciting cultural events are taking place in May too, including the return of Cirque du Soleil, the exhibition of Qin dynasty terracotta army and a film-focused exhibition by director Juno Mak, whose long-awaited feature Sons of the Neon Night will have its world premiere in Cannes this month.
There are plenty of options to choose from: ballet, contemporary dance, musicals, theatre shows and more. Read on to find out more about them all.
Don’t miss: Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actress Michelle Wai on ‘The Last Dance’ and sparking change with her film roles
1. ‘Sons of the Neon Night’ exhibition
Above A still from ‘Sons of the Neon Night’ (Photo: courtesy of Juno Mak and Harbour City)
A still from ‘Sons of the Neon Night’ (Photo: courtesy of Juno Mak and Harbour City)
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When: Until June 1
Where: Gallery by the Harbour, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui
What: Hong Kong filmmaker Juno Mak took eight years to create his feature film Sons of the Neon Night, which tells the story of the heir of a drug trafficking empire who dreams of a city free of narcotics. As we anticipate the global premiere of the film at Cannes this month, this exhibition presents the film’s never-before-seen stills, which offer a different viewing experience of the gritty, imaginary world of the story. The show also features sculptures by Mak’s artist friend Eudald de Juana Gorriz, who takes a creative spin on the characters of the movie, who are played by Takeshi Kaneshiro, Sean Lau, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Louis Koo and Gao Yuanyuan.
2. ‘Mr Blank 2.0’ dance show
Above A poster of ‘Mr Blank 2.0’ (Photo: courtesy of CCDC)
A poster of ‘Mr Blank 2.0’ (Photo: courtesy of CCDC)
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When: May 2 to 4
Where: Auditorium, Kwai Tsing Theatre, 12 Hing Ning Road, Kwai Chung
What: The City Contemporary Dance Company opens its 2025/26 season with Mr Blank 2.0, a dance show that explores the loss and rediscovery of our identities in the digital age. The show puts live contemporary dance on the same stage with multimedia elements to create the illusion of the characters’ scattered memories and confusing identities. While this production is a re-run of the 2018 premiere, it features a new cast and interpretation by the company’s new artistic director Sang Jijia, who is a renowned Tibetan choreographer.
3. Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival
Above ‘One Year Performance 1983–1984 (Rope
Piece)’ by Tehching Hsieh and Linda Montano (Image: courtesy of M+, Tehching Hsieh and Linda Montano)
‘One Year Performance 1983–1984 (Rope Piece)’ by Tehching Hsieh and Linda Montano (Image: courtesy of M+, Tehching Hsieh and Linda Montano)
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When: May 30 to June 1
Where: M+, West Kowloon
What: M+’s Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival returns in its second edition called Time Will Tell, featuring six main filmmakers: May Fung, Ho Tzu Nyen, Tehching Hsieh, Amar Kanwar, Wong Kit Yi and Chikako Yamashiro. They’re celebrated for their innovative exploration of how film and video art challenge our understanding of time. For example, Taiwanese performance artist Tehching Hsieh is known for the one-year performances he undertook while living in New York from the 1970s onwards; one of which involves him punching a clock every hour for a year. Visitors can expect a rich programme of screenings, exhibitions, performances, talks and workshops with artists and filmmakers.
4. ‘The Great Unity—Civilisation of the Qin and Han Dynasties in Shaanxi Province’
Above An exhibit at ‘The Great Unity—Civilisation of the Qin and Han Dynasties in Shaanxi Province’ (Photo: courtesy of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department)
An exhibit at ‘The Great Unity—Civilisation of the Qin and Han Dynasties in Shaanxi Province’ (Photo: courtesy of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department)
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When: Until July 7
Where: Hong Kong Museum of History, 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui
What: The Hong Kong Museum of History transports visitors back to the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC), when Emperor Qin Shihuang famously ordered the creation of his terracotta army, a form of funerary art to protect him in his afterlife. This exhibition, created in collaboration with the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration, presents more than 130 sets of archaeological finds from Shaanxi and Hong Kong, including the terracotta army of Emperor Qin Shihuang and warrior sculptures from the following Han dynasty.
5. ‘Scandal in Sorrento’
When: May 24
Where: Casa Sophia Loren, 1/F, 60-66 Johnston Road, Wan Chai
What: Neapolitan restaurant Casa Sophia Loren, inspired by the Italian icon Sophia Loren, will be transformed into a theatre, where the supper show Scandal in Sorrento takes diners on a night of an Italian feast, free-flow open bar and lively dance performances by Sorrento fishermen’s wives dressed in tailor-made costumes. The show premiered in April to great success, and it will take place on the last Saturday of every month, except for May.
6. ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’
Above Jordan Cheng as Hedwig (Photo: courtesy of Issac Lam and West Kowloon Cultural District
Authority)
Jordan Cheng as Hedwig (Photo: courtesy of Issac Lam and West Kowloon Cultural District Authority)
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When: May 10 to 17
Where: The Box, Freespace, West Kowloon
What: New York’s iconic Off-Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch gets a Hong Kong twist in this new production by a local cast and crew. The queer musical talks about the journey of a German emigrant, who is a victim of a botched sex-change operation, finding stardom and love. In this local production, Hong Kong choreographer and theatre director Ivanhoe Lam and Jordan Cheng, who takes the lead role in the show, translated most of the English production into Cantonese and worked on new musical arrangements to the original numbers to bring a fresh experience to the stage.
Don’t miss: Hong Kong musical ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ brings music festival vibes to West Kowloon
7. ‘Giselle’
Above Ye Feifei as Giselle (Photo: courtesy of the Hong Kong Ballet and Dean Alexander)
Ye Feifei as Giselle (Photo: courtesy of the Hong Kong Ballet and Dean Alexander)
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When: May 30 to June 8
Where: Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui
What: South African ballet artist Charla Genn and Hong Kong Ballet’s artistic director Septime Webre breathe new life into French romantic ballet Giselle, a poignant story of love and betrayal. The story revolves around a peasant girl who dies of heartbreak after realising her lover Albrecht is a nobleman; will her love in the afterlife be strong enough to save Albrecht from being haunted by vengeful ghosts of betrayed women? This Hong Kong production will feature new sets and costumes by Jérôme Kaplan, who also worked on the company’s Coco Chanel: The Life of a Fashion Icon in 2023.
8. ‘Magic Flute’
When: May 15 to 18
Where: Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui
What: Another classic production gets a new spin: Opera Hong Kong reinterprets Mozart’s last work in 1791, The Magic Flute, and recontextualises it in modern Hong Kong. Featuring modern costumes and sets, such as MTR stations, the audience will be taken on a fantastical journey of travelling between reality and dreams.
9. Chou Yu-Cheng solo exhibition
Above ‘Origami #13’ (2022) by Chou Yu-Cheng (Image: courtesy of Kiang Malingue and the artist)
‘Origami #13’ (2022) by Chou Yu-Cheng (Image: courtesy of Kiang Malingue and the artist)
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When: May 22 to July 5
Where: Kiang Malingue, 10 Sik On Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong
What: Taiwanese conceptual artist Chou Yu-Cheng, who won the Taipei Art Award in 2012, is celebrated for his minimalist aesthetics in his installation art and paintings that question mass media and the generation of value in the art world. His work has been exhibited extensively internationally, in New York, Liverpool and more. The Hong Kong show will showcase works from across his career.
10. Lin Yan: ‘Everlasting Layers’
Above ‘Summer 2023 #1’ (2023) by Lin Yan (Image: courtesy of Alisan Atelier and the artist)
‘Summer 2023 #1’ (2023) by Lin Yan (Image: courtesy of Alisan Atelier and the artist)
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When: From May 6 to August 16
Where: Alisan Atelier, 1904 Hing Wai Centre, 7 Tin Wan Praya Road, Aberdeen
What: Acclaimed Beijing-born artist Lin Yan, whose grandfather was modernist pioneer Pang Xunqin and whose mother is abstract painter Pang Tao, is celebrated for transforming Chinese ink art by blending in Parisian formal rigour and New York’s avant-garde energy—a result of her life and education overseas. This Hong Kong exhibition, a part of French May, traces her evolution from early 2000s experiments to site-specific installations as recent as this year.
11. ‘Kooza’
Above ‘Kooza’ by Cirque du Soleil (Photo: Instagram/@kooza.cirquedusoleil)
‘Kooza’ by Cirque du Soleil (Photo: Instagram/@kooza.cirquedusoleil)
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When: From May 21 to June 22
Where: Central Harbourfront, 9 Lung Wo Road, Central
What: World-renowned Canadian circus company Cirque du Soleil comes to Hong Kong this month with Kooza, which tells the story of a loner called The Innocent who seeks to find his place in the world and meets magical beings and comic characters. Expect acrobatic performance and the art of clowning, two circus traditions that highlight the test of human physical capacity and slapstick humour.
12. Les Amours de Carmen Wong
Above Gaddi’s at The Peninsula Hong Kong (Photo: courtesy of The Peninsula Hong Kong)
Gaddi’s at The Peninsula Hong Kong (Photo: courtesy of The Peninsula Hong Kong)
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When: May 31, July 21 and September 20
Where: Felix and Gaddy’s The Peninsula Hong Kong, Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
What: This year marks the 150th anniversary of the premiere of Bizet’s Carmen. The opera gets a Hong Kong makeover at The Peninsula Hong Kong as Les Amours de Carmen Wong, where soprano Etta Fung, mezzo-soprano Ashley Chui, tenor Chen Yong and baritone Isaac Droscha take the audience back to the 1960s and 1970s. The opera performance is accompanied by special dinners prepared by chefs de cuisine Aurélie Altemaire at Felix and Anne-Sophie Nicolas at Gaddy’s on different days. The final course of Felix’s menu, in particular, fittingly includes Felix Opera, which is a dessert made with coffee cream, chocolate ganache and cardamom ice cream.
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
