Opinion: Hong Kong needs more than events

A South China Morning Post opinion essay published Sunday says Hong Kong cannot rebuild its economy on fair weeks and one-off spectacles alone; it needs year-round support for local culture. (scmp.com) Carolyn Yim wrote that case on April 12, 2026, as Hong Kong keeps promoting itself through large cultural and business gatherings even while the city is in what she called a period of economic transition. (scmp.com) (hkeconomy.gov.hk) The government has leaned hard into that events strategy. Its official mega-events calendar listed more than 90 events in the first half of 2025, spanning Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Central, ComplexCon, the Hong Kong International Film Festival and major sports fixtures. (news.gov.hk) (gia.info.gov.hk) That push is still expanding. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau says the Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund has used a new application system since January 1, 2025, with three funding rounds a year for events staged on or after July 1, 2025. (cstb.gov.hk) The argument in Yim’s essay lands at a moment when headline events are drawing crowds. Art Basel Hong Kong said its 2026 edition, held March 27 to 29 with preview days on March 25 and 26, drew 91,500 visitors and came with a new five-year collaboration with the Hong Kong government. (artbasel.com) Hong Kong’s own economic data also show why officials favor visible wins. The government says real gross domestic product grew 3.5 percent in 2025 and forecasts 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent growth in 2026, while warning that geopolitical tensions and shifting trade policies remain downside risks. (hkeconomy.gov.hk) At the same time, public finances remain tight. Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in the February 26, 2025 budget that Hong Kong expected a HK$67 billion deficit for 2025-26, with fiscal reserves projected to fall to HK$580.3 billion. (info.gov.hk) (news.gov.hk) Hong Kong has also spent years building permanent cultural institutions, not just festivals. The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority’s 2024-25 annual report says M+’s touring Yayoi Kusama exhibition drew 1.65 million visitors across Hong Kong, Bilbao and Porto, and that WestK Shanghai Week 2025 was its biggest showcase outside Hong Kong since the authority was set up in 2008. (westkowloon.hk) The Hong Kong Palace Museum makes the same long-game case in institutional form. Its 2024 annual review says the museum was created with a HK$3.5 billion donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and support for some annual exhibitions and education programs through 2031. (hkpm.org.hk) The split in the debate is not whether Hong Kong should host big events; officials are funding more of them, and organizers are signing longer deals. The question raised in Sunday’s essay is whether the city will put the same consistency behind the smaller scenes, young artists and local communities that do not arrive with a five-day visitor count. (cstb.gov.hk) (artbasel.com) (scmp.com)