30 Houses and the Hungry Ghost Festival

Wong Kun-oi, kaifong (local residents) calls him Uncle Sai. He has held the baton of the annual Hungry Ghost ceremony for 22 years, and is also a core member of the 30 Houses. The 30 Houses may sound unfamiliar nowadays, it is the name for the area that roughly overlaps present day Soho (south of Hollywood Road) in Central. For the annual ceremony to take place, the 30 House community has to overcome challenges brought to them by urbanization and redevelopment. The documentary features how Uncle Sai puts together the ceremony and maintains a disappearing community.

【Update】The 30 Houses Kaifong Yulan Festival in the Central District will be held again in 2024 as a large-scale ritual

Over the past four years, the Central 30 Houses Yulan Festival could only be held in a simplified manner on the traditional date of the 24th of the 7th lunar month, due to the severity of the pandemic and manpower shortages. This year, following requests from the community, Urban Diary is pleased to know that the Central 30 Houses Yulan Festival will be revived as a large-scale ritual ceremony on August 27th, continuing this long-standing tradition.

For full details on Central 30 Houses Yulan Festival of 2024, please see the latest announcement on the Facebook page of the 30 Houses Yu Lan Association.