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Following the successful staging of its latest test event, the Hong Kong Government has announced that the city’s new Kai Tak Stadium will officially open on 1st March.

Hong Kong’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (HKCSTB) made the announcement following the latest test event at the venue - a Hong Kong Premier League U22 football match between Kitchee and North District.

The latest in a series of test events that commenced on 5th January with over 10,000 people attending a university rugby sevens tournament, this latest event saw the cornerstone of the Kai Tak Sports Park development operating close to its 50,000 capacity.

The exercise, which was attended by civil servants, government employees and members of community groups, was conducted to assess the operational readiness of Kai Tak Stadium and its surrounding facilities for sports events with maximum attendance, with a view to ensuring full preparedness for the official commissioning of the Sports Park.

Similar to the previous large-scale stress tests, the drill was co-ordinated by the Exercise Team of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and covered five major testing and evaluation areas: security screening and ticket checks, venue signage and designated seating arrangements, inter-agency co-ordination in response to emergencies, various crowd management measures and passenger flow management by public transport operators.

The trial event included a fire drill that involved 2,000 people, as well as a response exercise for attempts to throw water bottles and rush onto the field.

The stadium’s retractable roof was opened for the first time during the stress test, aligning the testing time and mode more closely to the actual conditions of sports events. The Hong Kong Government said the volume of noise during the test was found to be within the acceptable sound levels.

In a subsequent social media post the HKCSTB said the stadium would become the “top venue choice” for international sporting events and large-scale cultural and entertainment activities.

It noted that the venue has “ultra-high efficiency soundproofing” that ensures nearby residential districts will not be affected.

The Bureau wrote on Facebook “as the largest sports infrastructure project in Hong Kong’s history, the Kai Tak Sports Park is not only a significant milestone for the engineering sector, but also a crucial step in establishing Hong Kong as a hub for international sporting events."

Hong Kong’s Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Rosanna Law Shuk-pui later told the South China Morning Post, “after the many drills we have conducted, we are satisfied with the outcome.

“The goal of these exercises was to test the communication and coordination abilities among all stakeholders and staff, as well as their capability to handle unexpected incidents.”

Kai Tak Stadium’s first major event is currently scheduled to be Hong Kong’s leg of World Rugby’s SVNS series from 28th to 30th March while British band Coldplay will also stage four concerts at the stadium from 8th to 12th April.

Call to use Reusable Cups
On Monday, environmental group Greenpeace Hong Kong called for the allocation of HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) to establish a reusable cup system in the precinct to reduce waste during major events.

The appeal came after the NGO released the results of a survey on the use of disposable utensils during the Lunar New Year Cup, which was conducted last Saturday.

Greenpeace Hong Kong estimated that more than 12,000 disposable utensils and containers were distributed during a football match that attracted around 20,000 spectators.

Greenpeace advised that disposable cups and lids accounted for 72% of the utensils used.

The NGO wrote in Chinese on Instagram “the team projected that the Kai Tak Stadium, assuming it hosts at least 40 sports events per year with 100 per cent occupancy for each event, could generate around 1.21 million disposable utensils annually.”

Main image: A test football match at Kai Tak Stadium on 4th February. Credit: GocHK.

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