Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Month will kick off on May 30, featuring milk-tea making displays, the return of highly praised heritage tours and over 100 interactive events citywide.

Running until June 30, the second edition of the month-long cultural festival will take place under the theme “ICH Around Town”, according to a briefing on Tuesday.

A highlight of this year’s event will be live demonstrations, for the first time, showcased at Hong Kong International Airport. The Intangible Cultural Heritage Office will present a pop-up ICH display there from June 1 to 30, including live demonstrations every day between noon and 4 pm of Hong Kong milk tea making techniques from June 1 to 8. Apart from learning tea-making techniques, travelers will also be able to sample milk tea.

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During a seminar on June 13 at Hong Kong Heritage Museum, scholars and experts from the Chinese mainland, and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions will explore the transmission and development of ICH from various perspectives.

The brand-new ICH Creative Market will be launched this year with characteristic stalls. The public will get the chance to make handicrafts, try traditional foods, and buy cultural and creative products that incorporate elements of ICH.

Welcomed by tourists from home and aboard, this year’s ICH highlight tours will be expanded to 40 field trips covering eight districts with nine themed routes. Among the new routes are the Arts of the Guqin and Quilt Making Techniques tour in Sham Shui Po and the Chiu Chow Marinated Food Making Techniques tour in Kowloon City.

Other highlight events include a Hong Kong cheongsam heritage salon on June 6, which will invite experienced cheongsam masters to share and discuss the transmission and practice of this national ICH. Cheongsam is a traditional Chinese dress with a high collar that evolved in 1920s Shanghai.

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Last year’s ICH month attracted over 160,000 people and helped to raise public interest in traditional Chinese culture. It is hoped this year’s event will provide even more hands-on experiences for both residents and visitors, Judith Ng Suet-kwan, head of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office said at the briefing,

To give residents a preview of the month-long event, an all-female lion dance and a Wing Chun martial arts show were performed after the briefing on Tuesday.

Lee Yuk-cheong, chairman of the Ving Tsun Athletic Association, described Wing Chun as an important element of Chinese culture. Organized in cooperation with Hong Kong Shue Yan University, the show incorporated new technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality to increase interest among a younger audience.

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Lawmaker and history scholar Lau Chi-pang said the June 13 seminar will build on last year's experiences to elevate the exploration of ICH to new academic heights. He added that he hopes Hong Kong can further enrich the ICH list by identifying items with distinctive Hong Kong characteristics.

To promote the safeguarding and passing on of ICH, the Hong Kong government launched the first Hong Kong ICH Month in June 2025, presenting diversified activities involving over 80 ICH performances, 60 interactive experiential booths and 20 highlight tours.

Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com