The Mid-Autumn Festival lantern display returned to Victoria Park in 2021! (Photo-essay)

It's the day after the Mid-Autumn Festival and a public holiday in Hong Kong (as opposed to Mainland China, where the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival itself is a public holiday -- and also its eve -- but not the day after).  I guess the Hong Kong thinking is that the main festive events take place at night, so people need a rest the day after more so than on the day itself! 

The general idea for those with people (families mainly, but these days also friends) to gather and eat (mooncakes and so much more), drink and be merry on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival.  In normal non-pandemic years, this time of the year also is a chance to catch sightings of the Tai Hang fire dragon (and its lesser known cousin over in Pok Fu Lam).  But, for the second year in a row, the pandemic has robbed us of that opportunity.

On the other hand, the seasonal festive lantern display returned this year to Victoria Park (yes, the same Victoria Park where June 4th vigils have been banned since 2019), and I went over to take a look at it last night.  If truth be told, some of the decorations looked like retreads from the last pre-pandemic year(s). Still, the main displays did look like they were making their Victoria Park display -- with the six-metre high merry-go-round, crated by local paper craft master, Hui Ka-Hung, being the undisputed highlight:-

 

There was quite the crowd out strolling about on Victoria Park's

football pitches out last night 

 

The "social distancing enforcers" were present too but, for the

most part, the crowd tended to ignore them and police themselves

Despite there being many other people milling about, 

I managed to get an unimpeded shot of the "Full Moon Carousel"! :)

 

However, I found this impossible to do with other installations,

including that entitled "Lovely Birds Chirping in the Moonlight"

 

"The Auspicious Elephant Family" -- there appeared 

to be an animal theme going on

 

Does this look like "Flamingo Couples in the Lake" to you?

(Yeah, you have to use your imagination to figure things out at times!)

 

This particularly so with the rather disappointing

"Twin Rabbits Welcome the Moon" installation, I reckon!

 

Indeed, I actually preferred some of the elementary school 

student-made lanterns on display to it (and yes, I was indeed happy 

to see that the color yellow present at Victoria Park last night)