By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-31 15:47:00 | Updated at 2024-10-31 19:26:38
4 hours ago
Tens of thousands of costumed revellers headed to bars and pubs in the popular Hong Kong entertainment district of Lan Kwai Fong on Thursday night to celebrate Halloween, but business was less than satisfactory for some owners.
Revellers began filling the narrow lanes of Lan Kwai Fong in the early evening, with those possessing a flair for dressing up hitting the streets with quirky and sometimes scary outfits – and more than a little macabre make-up.
Police estimated that about 25,000 people crowded into the nightlife area, but Lan Kwai Fong Group chairman Allan Zeman said he believed the number would reach as high as 60,000.
His office told the Post that the crowd size exceeded 50,000 people last year.
By 9pm, the area was already packed with thousands of party-goers, with movement slowing to a crawl. Police implemented crowd control measures, allowing people to only move in one direction and exit on nearby Wyndham Street.
Hong Kong Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee, speaking to the press while visiting Lan Kwai Fong before midnight, said the crowds were “significantly” larger than the previous year, but order was good.
