Tai Kwun | A VIBRANT SUMMER AWAITS | ENCORE! - HKJC Celebrates Tai Kwun 8th Anniversary

Description

Tai Kwun marks its eighth anniversary with ENCORE! – HKJC Celebrates Tai Kwun 8th Anniversary, launching a dynamic season bursting with imagination and connection. The anniversary honours the creative energies that have formed Tai Kwun over the past eight years, including its conservation and revitalisation by The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) in partnership with the Hong Kong SAR Government. HKJC continues to fund and support its operations and programmes. We welcome everyone to come together once again and be part of Tai Kwun’s ongoing story.

Kicking off in May, the anniversary programme builds on the success of last year’s diverse offerings, which drew a record-breaking 5.2 million visits across a broad spectrum of cultural events. Themed around A Vibrant Summer Awaits, the early-summer lineup unfolds through a multifaceted programme, coalescing around the Parade Ground as it transforms into a stylish Summer Deck. With a verdant lawn and relaxed, resort-like setting, the space becomes an urban oasis where visitors can recharge between exhibitions, world-class performances, and a refined mix of summer dining, drinking and shopping.

Throughout the season, Tai Kwun emerges as more than a destination, reaffirming its role as a living, evolving gift to the city. Programmes range from guided tours offering new angles on the site’s history and architecture to hands-on workshops and gallery explorations. As an anniversary treat, visitors can enjoy 20% off selected ticketed programmes, and from 22 May to 1 Jul, TK FANs can redeem a Tai Kwun Special Stamp with a net spend of HK$100 at Tai Kwun shops and restaurants.

Later in the summer, Tai Kwun presents a series of energetic activations – an exceptional array of contemporary artistic voices and site-specific storytelling. Highlights include Better Together – Partnering Up for Hong Kong Movies, Tai Kwun’s much-anticipated summer exhibition exploring Hong Kong cinema through the spirit of partnership; the Asia premiere of Wayne McGregor: On The Other Earth, a world-leading art-tech experience acclaimed in Venice and London; Isaac Chong Wai: An Intimate Surrender, featuring a newly commissioned live art exhibition by the Berlin–based Hong Kong artist who participated in the 60th Venice Biennale; and the third edition of Open the Box created by Filipino artist Ryan Villamael, Tai Kwun’s signature participatory programme for audiences of all ages.

Soak up the Summer in the Heart of the City

Offering the height of chic, sun-soaked living, the Parade Ground will be reimagined as a spirited Summer Deck. Filled with colourful umbrellas, coffee tables and lounge seating set against a bright green lawn, it’s poised to become a city hotspot – a welcoming haven for the community to connect and cool off as temperatures rise. Visitors can relax between programmes and exhibitions, or enjoy takeaway offerings in a picnic-style setting in the heart of the city.

The shared open space creates an atmosphere of excitement and possibility, building anticipation for the rich arts and culture programming set to spring up across Tai Kwun from May.

A Vibrant Summer Awaits Date: 22 May – 1 Jul 2026 Time: 8am – 11pm daily

Venue: Parade Ground, Tai Kwun Price: Free admission

Learn more: https://qrs.ly/gphd3ec

TK FAN Exclusive Offer: Take Home a Tai Kwun Special Stamp

Stamp your time at the 8th Anniversary celebrations with Tai Kwun’s tailor-made souvenir. From 22 May, TK FANs can redeem a special anniversary stamp at the Visitor Centre with a net spend of HK$100 (single receipt) at Tai Kwun’s shops and restaurants. Quantities are limited, so shop, dine and collect your memento while it lasts.

Redemption period: 22 May – 1 Jul 2026

Redemption counter: Visitor Centre, G/F, Block 03, Barrack Block, Tai Kwun Opening hours: 10am – 8pm

*Terms and conditions apply. Limited quantities available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Craft a Lion-Head Sculpture for a Roaring Good Time

A fun and educational session for curious minds of all ages, this hands-on heritage workshop combines creativity with an appreciation of Tai Kwun’s historic architecture. Participants can create their own miniature lion head, inspired by the gargoyles preserved on the façades of the Central Magistracy (1914) and the Police Headquarters Block (1919). Blending play with learning, the workshop offers insight into Tai Kwun’s heritage, in particular the historical function and symbolic meaning of these distinctive architectural elements.

Lion Head DIY Workshop

Date: 30 May 2026 (Sat)

Time: 1pm – 2:30pm / 3:30pm – 5pm

Venue: Laundry Steps and Lower E Hall

Discounted price: HK$296 (original price: HK$370) | 1 individual adult (1 miniature lion head included) HK$336 (original price: HK$420) | Family of two, 1 adult and 1 child (1 miniature lion head included) Ticketing link: https://qrs.ly/69hd3eg

See Tai Kwun from a Multicultural Perspective

We All Belong guided tours offer a fresh lens on Tai Kwun’s cultural significance. Led by youths from diverse cultural backgrounds, each tour is built around their authentic voices and personal stories, exploring how their cultural identities and lived experiences intersect with the site’s rich multicultural history. Through these shared perspectives, the tours highlight an aspiration for a more open and inclusive society, while showing how Tai Kwun today stands as a community asset enriched by diverse cultures, narratives and communities.

We All Belong

Date: 30 May 2026 (Sat)

Time: 12pm – 1pm / 2pm – 3pm / 4pm – 5pm

Venue: Site-wide

Price: Free admission

Registration link: https://qrs.ly/j6hd3ek (Full)

Surprises, Savours and Souvenirs

Adding to the 8th Anniversary fanfare, Tai Kwun’s tenants are joining the festive spirit with a cornucopia of offerings, from social workshops to curated menus, refreshing drinks and special keepsakes.

What’s a picnic without treats? Complementing Tai Kwun’s Summer Deck, tenants are serving up takeaway delicacies perfect for alfresco indulgence. Highlights include Stecco Natura Gelaterie’s specially priced picnic duo set, PAZTA’s gelato-and-drink combo, Madame Fù – Grand Café Chinois’ sip-and-scone set and Hong Kong street classics from sensory ZERO. To wash it down, sample Dragonfly’s crowd-pleasing boba cocktail, or share a drink with LockCha’s buy-one-get-one-free takeaway beer offer.

Thoughtfully crafted dining moments await. Raise a glass to Tai Kwun with happy hour cocktails at 001 and Shiro, or explore Botanical Garden’s refreshing take on the Pimm’s Cup. Don’t miss the crispy chicken paratha roll at Jack’s Racquet Room, or unlock an exclusive discount at 1862 Bar de Tapas y Vino with five ‘8’s in your HKID card number. Travel the world through flavour: put your pinkies up for a spiked English afternoon tea at Magistracy Dining Room, savour modern Indian cuisine at Prince and the Peacock, or indulge in French classics at Café Claudel.

There’s also plenty of opportunities to get creative. Bookazine Social invites visitors to explore art in and around Tai Kwun through photography and sketch tours. Or create something to cherish at PAP Studio’s kaleidoscope workshop or Touch Ceramics’ enamel teapot class. Make art, then take time to appreciate it at special exhibitions hosted by Touch Gallery, Ora-Ora and INKstudio, spanning ancient Chinese landscapes to hallucinatory contemporary scenes.

As a special thank you to the community, Permanent Resident is offering a complimentary zodiac garden fan – just mention “anniversary.” Limited-edition souvenirs are also available, including UrbanRoom.Social’s set of microfibre picnic towels featuring distinctive Tai Kwun patterns, perfect for lounging on the lawn, alongside a range of gifts and special offers at The Gallery by SOIL.

Upcoming Exhibitions in Jun and Jul

Better Together – Partnering Up for Hong Kong Movies

Tai Kwun’s summer exhibition Better Together – Partnering Up for Hong Kong Movies explores the city’s “team spirit” and “film spirit” through classics spanning six decades. Presented in association with the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers and curated by film director Sunny Chan Wing San, the exhibition features immersive set designs that echo the artistry behind the camera, recreating iconic scenes and showcasing replica props that once captured audiences’ imaginations. Professional action teams reveal the craft behind Hong Kong-style special effects, while leading industry figures share behind-the-scenes stories of filmmaking, from developing narratives and working on set to bringing together diverse talent to realise ambitious, gravity-defying visions.

Date: 23 Jun – 20 Sep 2026 Time: 11am – 7pm

Venue: Duplex Studio, Block 01, Tai Kwun

Ticket: HK$30 (Regular ticket) / HK$20 (Concession ticket for full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 or above and people with disabilities)

Learn more and ticketing: https://qrs.ly/svhdtn4

From 26 May until 1 Jul 2026, TK FANs who purchase regular tickets for the designated exhibition sessions between 23 Jun and 1 Jul 2026 via the Tai Kwun website may enjoy a limited Buy-One-Get-One-Free offer. Tickets are subject to limited availability and offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Wayne McGregor: On The Other Earth

As the world’s first post-cinematic choreographic installation, Wayne McGregor: On The Other Earth combines dance, digital imaging, spatialised sound and AI to redefine how we think about movement and the body. Co-produced by Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Ballet and Studio Wayne McGregor, London, the 57-minute programme is set within Jeffrey Shaw and Sarah Kenderdine’s 26-million-pixel, panoramic 3D, 360-degree nVis screen, where 3D imagery is experienced within an enveloping, large-scale cylindrical architecture of eight metres wide and four metres tall.

Fostering an intimate connection between audiences and the hyperreal dancers of Company Wayne McGregor and Hong Kong Ballet, the work unfolds as a series of close encounters, otherworldly in tone and radically reimagining perceptions of performance and the future of entertainment.

Date: 25 Jun – 2 Aug 2026 (Closed on Mon)

Time: 1:15pm / 2:30pm / 3:45pm / 5pm / 6:15pm (Duration: 57 minutes)

Venue: 1/F, JC Contemporary, Tai Kwun

Price: HK$120 (Regular ticket) / HK$80 (Concession tickets for full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 or above and people with disabilities)

Ticketing link: https://qrs.ly/n6hdrvw

From 26 May – 24 Jun, TK FANs who purchase regular tickets for Wayne McGregor: On The Other Earth via Tai Kwun’s website will receive a 15% priority booking discount. Discounted tickets are subject to limited availability and offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Open the Box 2026: Pleasant Place with Ryan Villamael

Open the Box 2026: Pleasant Place with Ryan Villamael is a one-month-long, continuously evolving participatory programme created by Filipino artist Ryan Villamael. Audiences of all ages are invited to join workshops where they can create paper leaves and add them to the growing canopy. Formed by multi-level, suspended clusters, Pleasant Place is part of the artist’s ongoing installation series Locus Amoenus, which explores themes of history, collective memory and the intertwined layers that constitute a locality. Open the Box encourages audiences to tell their stories alongside those of the artist. In this edition, many hands shape a shared refuge where histories, geographies and personal stories of migration and belonging reside.

Date: 4 Jul – 2 Aug 2026 (Closed on Mon) Time: 11am – 7pm

Venue: 1/F, JC Contemporary, Tai Kwun Ticketing information will be announced soon.

Isaac Chong Wai: An Intimate Surrender

Tai Kwun Contemporary presents Isaac Chong Wai: An Intimate Surrender, a solo exhibition of the Berlin–based Hong Kong artist Isaac Chong Wai, who will debut a live art installation exploring the performance of gender in the arts. In this newly commissioned project, Chong revisits artistic and cultural forms of masculine and feminine representations, taking the 1993 film Farewell My Concubine about two male actors as a point of departure. Each day during the exhibition’s four-week run, the 3/F of JC Contemporary transforms daily into a monumental installation, brought to life by dancers performing a series of choreographed movements that draw on scenes from the film and gestures from Chinese opera.

Date: 10 Jul – 9 Aug 2026 (Closed on Mon) Time: 11am – 7pm

Venue: 3/F, JC Contemporary, Tai Kwun Free admission