Whether you are home for the holidays or spending the festive season away from your family in Hong Kong due to travel restrictions, we’ve got a list packed with celebratory fun to wrap up another COVID year in style. So stir up the eggnog (and we won’t tell if you add an extra swish of alcohol to the mix) and let’s get the festivities rolling. At least we know Old Saint Nick will be travelling across the globe this Christmas without any travel restrictions.

Gingerbread for Good at Cookie Smiles

This holiday season, you can stuff your face with cookies in the name of doing something for the greater good. From December 6 to 23, social enterprise Cookie Smiles will team up with 12 of Hong Kong’s most popular chefs to create a lineup of delectable, unique gingerbread cookies with profits going to charitable organisations ranging from ImpackHK, Splash Foundation, Shine Skills Centre and The Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association. The #FindYourPerfectMan campaign will feature 12 unique gingerbread men cookies created by chefs the likes of Richard Ekkebus, Agustin Balbi, and Uwe Opocensky. Expect flavors like Ando’s “Grumpy Mojo” maple syrup gingerbread man, Chef Chris Ho’s Baijiu five spice gingerbread, Cookie DPT’s red velvet gingerbread, Salisterra’s “Mr. Terra” rosemary molasses and sea salt gingerbread, and the Landmark Oriental’s “The Big Boy” with Japanese tangerine, just to name a few. The 12 unique flavors of gingerbread men will be sold at luxury fashion boutique JOYCE in Central, so nibble on and pick which (ginger)man is your perfect match.

G/F, New World Tower, 16-18 Queen’s Road Central, Central

Circus Party at Tai Kwun

Revamped historical culture hub Tai Kwun will play host to a dazzling lineup of circus and dance performances this holiday season. The main plaza will also be home to a 12-meter-high Christmas tree. The three weeks of circus performances kicks off on December 15 and concludes on January 2, and will feature local and international artists. Highlights include award-winning Spanish troupe David Moreno Cia. and Cristina Calleja, performing dance, music and acrobatics on a grand piano suspended a staggering eight metres in the air, as well as a Hong Kong twist to the classic Nutcrackers, with home-grown theatre troupe TS Crew using lion dance, Chinese opera, circus, acrobatics, beatboxing, and fire breathing to depict the dramatic battle scene amongst the mice and nutcrackers. There’s also a host of CircusCracker Workshops around the theme of Nutcracker for families, where adults and little ones alike can learn from onsite artist demonstrations and try their hand at crafts and tricks.

Click here for more details.

10 Hollywood Road, Central, 3559 2600 

Santa’s Sweet Shop at Island Shangri-La

Island Shangri-La plays host to a rich tapestry of festive events this season. The Christmas tree, decorated with hand-painted ornaments from local illustrators, goes up on November 19 alongside the opening of the Christmas Market. Plenty of gifting ideas can be found at the market, including chocolate bars with hidden golden tickets, luxurious advent calendars and gingerbread featuring Hong Kong’s iconic skyline. Roasted chestnuts, hot chocolate, mulled wine, toffee apples and mince pies will be offered to fuel your shopping escapades.

Santa is wrapping up quarantine and will be hosting meet and greets with the little ones at Santa’s Sweet Shop, with photos and sweet treats accompanying each visit at $128. Be sure to make reservations prior to a visit to avoid disappointments. Reservations open on the week of November 15th.

The Christmas Theatre at the hotel lobby will be amping up the holiday spirit with daily live music, as well as ballet performances on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and carolers from Heep Yunn School on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There will also be Festive Storytelling and Nutcracker Craft Workshops during the week of Christmas.

Click here for all the details.

Pacific Place, Supreme Court Road, Admiralty, 2877-3838 

A Sustainable and Socially Aware holiday at The Rosewood

Back by popular demand, The Rosewood launches their second Staycation for Good this December 18 to 20 in partnership with Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk) with a message of sustainability as well as social empowerment. The two-night staycation package features immersive experiences for the whole family, and activities include upcycling out-of-service linens into DIY Santa sacks, Christmas cookie decoration masterclass, and repacking upcycled toys for underprivileged children in Hong Kong. Little guests will prepare a treasure hunt along with snacks for a Christmas party for low-income families on December 19, in partnership with Principal Chan Free Tutorial World.

A pre-loved toy drive in collaboration with local NGO Green Toysland is open for donations from December 1 to 26 along with Rosewood half-day holiday camps. Children ages five to ten can partake in an array of activities such as baking up waffle cone Christmas trees, crafting holiday kaleidoscopes, and grooving like future K-POP stars.

Click here for more details.

The Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, 3891-8888

Orient Express at IFC Mall

“Grand Central Station” arrives in Central, Hong Kong this holidays season in the form of an Orient Express midnight blue train carriage decked out to transfer visitors on a luxurious railroad journey back in time. Founded in 1883, the Orient Express has been a symbol of luxury travel for over a hundred years, and a link between East and West. The exhibit at IFC Mall will feature the iconic train carriage alongside vintage displays, timeless artifacts and historical documents. You might not be able to board the actual Orient Express this holiday season, but you can let your imagination take you away on the carriage at IFC. The exhibition starts on November 23  and ends on January 2, 2022.

IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central

House Market at the Upper House 

For free tickets, click here

Stories from the Tree at The Peninsula

The lighting of the massive Christmas tree in the grand foyer of historic Peninsula Hotel has always been a tradition in Hong Kong, drawing crowds to watch the towering tree come alive with glowing embers. This year’s Lighting Ceremony is scheduled for December 2, and a Festive Chalet set up in the hotel lobby until Christmas Eve offering delectable cookies, puddings, hampers and festive decorations such as snow globes. Santa and the hotel mascot Pen Bear will also be making the rounds during the festive season.

This year marks the fourth and final chapter in the “Stories from the Tree” series at The Peninsula, featuring a story about a reindeer who journeys around the world to experience different Christmas traditions, an aptly theme in a travel-restricted COVID world. The e-story is downloadable through the Peninsula website for free, along with the three other stories from previous years. A printed box set of the four volumes are also available for purchase, with USD$10 of proceeds going to ImpackHK, a local NGO that assist the underprivileged in Hong Kong.

Click here for more details.

The Peninsula, Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2920-2888

Ballet and Carols at The Langham

Festivities abound this year at The Langham, with a Christmas tree lighting on December 1, followed by traditional carols and Christmas songs in the hotel lobby every evening at 6pm from December 18 until December 26, so be sure to share in the holidays cheers while sipping mulled complimentary wine. Little ballerinas from the Christine Liao School of Ballet and Asian Dance Association will dazzle guests with excerpts from The Nutcracker Ballet on the afternoon of December 12 and December 19, and jolly ol’ Saint Nick will be spreading the holiday spirit at noon and in the evenings from December 18 through to Boxing Day. Be sure to also check out the holiday feasting menu at the various restaurants, with holiday highlights the likes of panettone, roast turkey, black forest yule logs, and blackcurrent trifle.

Click here for more details.