HK coffee festival sees over 33,000 visitors during Easter holiday

The inaugural four-day outdoor coffee festival, “COFFEE HK x Tokyo Coffee Festival @West K”, has drawn over 33,000 visitors over the past weekend.

Organised by Coffee Hong Kong, the coffee festival concluded yesterday (21 April) at the Great Lawn in Art Park, West Kowloon District. This large-scale outdoor event aimed to celebrate coffee culture and redefine the coffee experience. This festival's partners included the Tokyo Coffee Festival, featuring over 10 Japanese coffee brands and more than 20 brands from Hong Kong. It offered over 100 international and coffee shops, workshops, market stalls, music, pet activities, and family-friendly events.

Themed “Chill beyond circle,” the coffee festival partnered with the viral internet meme character "Chill Guy" to promote “I’m just a chill guy” as the spirit of the event. This aimed to encourage Hongkongers and overseas tourists to take a break from their hectic lives, unwind, and savour the moment.

According to multiple media reports such as Sing Tao Headline and HK01, the organiser reported that over 33,000 people attended during the first three days (18 to 20 April), enjoying a variety of hand-brewed coffee and coffee products.

During the first day of the event, some attendees expressed dissatisfaction on Threads over the need for online ticket holders to queue for wristbands, according to a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. While some complained about waiting two hours to enter despite having bought tickets online and entering the venue later than those who bought tickets on-site, others believed that the organiser failed to consider the expected attendance based on online ticket sales.

On the second day, the organiser announced on its official Instagram that there would be no on-site ticket sales counters for same-day purchases, and only online ticket sales would be available. According to the HK01 report, people started queuing outside when the festival opened at 11am, with the number of attendees remaining around several dozen. They needed to exchange their tickets for wristbands, and the process was running smoothly, with wait times of 10 to 15 minutes.

Furthermore, the organiser set up separate counters at the venue entrance for one-day ticket redemption and day pass redemption, aiming to speed up the entry process for different ticket types.

According to the reports, the market stalls from Japanese brands were particularly popular among participants, with several shops experiencing queues of dozens of people, while some local brands had about 20 people waiting in line. Some stall owners said despite initial expectations of lower sales due to a weak economy and Easter travel, their businesses during the first two days surpassed forecasts by 70 to 80%. They observed strong consumer purchasing power, as many attendees purchased coffee products they sampled on-site.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Coffee Hong Kong for more information.

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