Two events in Hong Kong featuring a live concert, aerial drone show and massive raffle will mark the return of large-scale New Year’s Eve celebrations in the city following past cancellations amid the 2019 social unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic.

A NEW TV-hosted event will span two consecutive evenings on December 31 and January 1, 2022 at Central Harbourfront, with live performances by iconic Hong Kong artists Aaron Kwok Fu-shing, Vivian Chow Wai-man and Grasshopper for crowds of 16,000 people per night.

The extravaganza will be live-streamed by TVB, with 600 drones soaring above Victoria Harbour and featuring in stage performances.

At the same time, the Hong Kong Tourism Board will host its own countdown event for 3,000 attendees in the West Kowloon Cultural District.

“The pandemic has made it difficult to organise events, but now that it’s under control, it’s great that [various events] can flourish,” said Bonnie Chan Ying-tung, General Manager of NEW TV.

While the NEW TV event will largely feature artists popular in the 1990s, the Tourism Board’s event will include performances by Canto-pop boy band Mirror, singer-songwriter AGA, Malaysian-Chinese artist Gin Lee and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Tourism Board event will provide free entry, while tickets for the NEW TV event will be between HK$480 to HK$1,280 per person or HK$12,000 for six VIP seats. NEW TV will also give away 1,000 free tickets to underprivileged families.

The NEW TV countdown will include a HK$490,000 lucky draw for concertgoers, with top prizes including a Tesla’s Model 3 vehicle and Apple iPhones.

Both events will be subject to social-distancing measures, with the West Kowloon event requiring all visitors to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

The number of drones at the NEW TV show will also be reduced from 1,000 last year to 600 this year as a safety precaution, Chan said.

She added that she was confident there would be no repeat of the incident at the Wine & Dine Festival 2018 drone show where 46 out of its 100 machines fell from the sky.

“We’ve tested them many times, and it was very successful when we used them for last year’s countdown event,” Chan said.