Hong Kong’s first large-scale balloon float parade, featuring beloved icons such as SpongeBob SquarePants and the city’s baby panda cubs, attracted hundreds, including young children, to the West Kowloon Cultural District on Sunday.
Families lined the paths of the West Kowloon Art Park as the parade of 16 giant helium balloons made a loop between the Hong Kong Palace Museum and contemporary art museum M+, accompanied by a youth marching band.
The event brought together characters from popular intellectual properties (IPs) such as SpongeBob, Garfield, Mr Potato Head from the Toy Story films, the Care Bears, LuLu the Piggy and Cocomelon.
It also featured unique local IPs such as Ocean Park’s Panda Friends and a mobile ice cream van from the Hong Kong Machines art series.
The Peppa Pig balloon proved to be a clear crowd favourite, attracting shouts of joy from the crowds as it came around a bend in the route. Parents also rushed to get photos of their children standing next to their favourite characters as the parade went by.
