Scenes from Sophia: A Musical Supper Series

Embark on an unforgettable seafood-filled dining experience with A Feast of Japanese Seafood Flavours at Big Bay Café, available from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, 2026, from 6 PM to 9:30 PM. This all-new themed dinner buffet showcases an impressive selection of premium Japanese seafood and culinary favorites, inviting guests to enjoy an elevated feast inspired by the flavors of Japan.

The buffet features an extensive Japanese Sashimi & Sushi Station, offering premium sashimi, imported sushi, Matsuba Crab sushi, hand rolls, and weekend specialties such as Hokkaido scallops, salmon roe, and sea urchin. Guests can also enjoy unlimited servings from the Seafood on Ice selection, including Matsuba crab, prawns, clams, and sea whelks. Weekday diners can look forward to Brown Crab, while weekends, public holidays, and their eves feature lobster as an additional highlight.

From Monday to Thursday, each adult receives a serving of Kumamoto A4 Wagyu prepared to order on a sizzling teppan grill. From Friday to Sunday, public holidays, and their eves, guests can witness a spectacular Live Whole Bluefin Tuna Carving and enjoy free-flow selected Japanese sake, wines, and beer.

Prices start at HK$768 per person from Monday to Thursday and HK$868 per person from Friday to Sunday and public holidays.

Event information edited for consistency and clarity by The Beat Asia.

Step back into a New York that no longer exists through "The World Trade Center: Before Memory," a photography exhibition by Hong Kong artist Gretchen So, presented at HKI Gallery from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31, 2026. Featuring black-and-white photographs captured on medium-format film in the early 1990s, with some being presented publicly for the first time, the exhibition revisits a time when the Twin Towers were still woven into the everyday rhythms of city life.

Rather than portraying the World Trade Center as a monumental landmark, So photographed the towers from streets, waterfronts, bridges, and public spaces across New York. Throughout the series, the buildings appear as recurring presences within the urban landscape, sometimes prominent, sometimes distant, yet consistently embedded in the lives of the people who moved through the city. The towers appear as witnesses to the everyday life of metropolitan New York.

“When I took these photographs, I was simply observing what was around me,” says So. “There was no intention to memorialize anything. Yet the Twin Towers kept appearing somewhere in the frame. They were not necessarily the subject, but they were part of the rhythm of the city and woven into the everyday lives of the people who lived there.”

Viewed today, these images carry a poignancy that did not exist when they were created. What began as observations of architecture, public space, and daily life has evolved into an unintentional record of a city forever changed by history. Through themes of memory, absence, and the shifting meaning of photographs over time, the exhibition invites visitors to reflect on how images can acquire new significance across generations.

“What is now absent has become as powerful as what remains visible,” she adds. The photographs have not changed. History has, and so has the way we see them.

Event information edited for consistency and clarity by The Beat Asia.

Photo by Gretchen So

Step into a city overtaken by darkness at Ocean Park Hong Kong Halloween Fest 2026, where terrifying attractions, roaming creatures, and immersive haunted experiences transform the park into a playground of fear. This year’s edition introduces The Grave Rave, a horror-fueled celebration blending scares, entertainment, and fantasy through collaborations with some of Hong Kong’s most recognizable brands and creative talents.

Among the festival’s highlights is FWD Insurance Presents: Under the Castle Haunted Experience, inspired by Jackson Wang’s original fantasy IP, Under the Castle. Thrill-seekers can also venture into AEON Card Presents: Voodoo Boo Terror Park, where special 3D glasses distort reality into a surreal nightmare, explore the film-inspired Orion Beer Presents: Troublesome Night 8, or uncover disturbing secrets inside Forbidden Asylum. Throughout the park, more than 120 roaming ghouls create unexpected encounters, while special experiences such as Trip.com Presents: OPPA Scaremonies, the Ghoulish Cosplay Party, and themed Halloween performances add to the festivities.

Guests can enhance their visit with the Triple Terror Combo, priced at HK$280 on peak days and HK$238 on non-peak days, which includes one-time access to Troublesome Night 8, Voodoo Boo Terror Park, and Forbidden Asylum, plus same-day entry to OPPA Scaremonies. From family-friendly activities to intense, haunted attractions, the festival offers something for every level of bravery.

Event information edited for consistency and clarity by The Beat Asia.

Experience the richness and diversity of contemporary European cinema at KINO/26 German Film Festival, returning to Hong Kong from Sept. 17 to Oct. 4, 2026. This year's edition presents a vibrant lineup of acclaimed films, emerging voices, documentaries, family features, and international collaborations that showcase the breadth of storytelling from Germany and beyond.

The festival opens with "Amrum" by Fatih Akin, winner of Best Film at the Bavarian Film Awards, and continues with highlights including "Visitation" by Volker Schlöndorff, adapted from the novel by Booker Prize-winning author Jenny Erpenbeck, who will appear in Hong Kong for a post-screening discussion.

The main programme also features celebrated titles such as "Oh, This Unspeakable Void,""Trial of Hein,""22 Lengths,""Prosecution," and "The Secret Floor," alongside the documentary "Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest," with filmmaker Viv Li joining audiences virtually after the screening.

Beyond Germany, the festival spotlights Austria and Israel through dedicated film nights, while special programmes honor the legacy of filmmaker Wolfgang Becker with "Good Bye, Lenin!" and celebrate Queer German Cinema through the retrospective "Filmmaking on the Queer Frontier." Filmmaker Monika Treut will also attend selected screenings in person.

Event information edited for consistency and clarity by The Beat Asia.