A Symphony of Lights

Overhyped and we came way too early to try to save our spot for the show
It’s free so can’t complain too much but definitely something you just gotta do when in HK
The show didn’t wow me much but I didn’t watch it from the waterfront
Tip you can see if from the steps too so you don’t have to stand
They play it twice a night!

The Symphony of Lights has been around for years and is the world’s largest continuing light show. It starts at 8pm and lasts exactly 15 minutes every night. It has been a fixture in Hong Kong’s incredible skyline for the last dozen years, making it one of the city’s best free attractions.
Best spot to view the festivities? Formally the Avenue of Stars was the place to be, but the Promenade in Tsim Sha Tsui is the spot to see it all. There is also Wanchai next to the Bauhinia landmark and an added bonus: some cheesy elevator music synced with the lights.
One thing that is pretty nuts is the broadcast of the show is only done in Cantonese on Sunday. Otherwise it’s split between Mandarin (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday), and English (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). The lights themselves are in an order that, according to organizers, is aimed at showcasing the diversity and vibrant nature of Hong Kong.
Touristy as it may be, it hasn’t been a popular feature with the locals. The waste of electricity, along with the constant light pollution has been the subject of criticism amongst city goers forever. If you didn’t catch it the first time around, there is always the next night.

Hong Kong review #19
My friend who had never been to Hong Kong, really wanted to see the «harbor view lights» as he put it. The only place I could think of to get that view, aside from floating around in a boat in the harbor, was from Kowloon looking back across the water.
We arrive by taxi (who over charged me by HK$ 15 — the basturd!) and find hoards of people clamoring to see what they can along the railing.
The view… the view is truly spectacular because the Hong Kong skyline itself is… well, truly spectacular! All of the multi colored lights, brand name advertising and now large video screens atop these tall building… it’s really beautiful and quite impressive to see!
As we look at the buildings across the bay, I hear music playing near by and see green laser lights and other lights which are more or less in sync with the music. At that point I realized this was the «Symphony of Lights» I’d read about here on Unilocal.
In a way this «Symphony» was kinda neat, but that thought only lasted a few minutes before turning to «this is kinda hokey». Sure it’s a nice idea, but the results are less than impressive (for more than a couple minutes anyway) due to execution and the music being piped into a very small area, when compared to how spread out the people were watching this.
OVERALL: If you’ve been living in the middle of nowhere, or under a rock for a long time, this Symphony of Lights is really something to see. However, while I have not seen a better show anywhere else, I was just not impressed.

I was in Hong Kong for vacation and one of the «must-​do things» is to go watch this Symphony of Lights show! When I told my aunt and uncle, who are both locals, responded with, «Sure, if you want to…» I was puzzled as to why they responded that way. It was a Friday night and my aunt said we needed to get there before 8pm so we can get a spot to sit! We got there at 7pm. There were quite a few people there and it was drizzling. We were waiting anxiously for the show to start at 8pm.
We were chit chatting and suddenly we saw a green laser light. Then we saw another, and then another. We had NO idea that the show had started! It was so sad. I had asked my aunt if there was music to go along with the laser show and she said no. However, as the show went on, we realized that the very soft music playing in the background, which could barely be heard by anyone, was supposed to be going along with the laser show. I don’t even think people knew that music was playing because it was so quiet. This was the saddest laser show ever. Only a few of the commercial buildings participated in the show so not very many of them lit up to go along with the laser show.
When the show ended and as people were walking out, I heard may people say, «Good thing we didn’t pay for this!» I couldn’t agree more! GOOD THING WE DIDN’T PAY FOR IT! If YOU paid ME to go, I still wouldn’t go. It was a waste of TIME!
So please, don’t waste your valuable time on your vacation to go watch this show. It isn’t worth it at all!

Overhyped undersold! Waste of time and effort waiting for such dismal multimedia displays. The background music is too soft, the floodlights are too dim, and it’s a good clear day out. Unless you happen to be in the area, there are better things to do.

No. Just no please. Reasons:
(1) It’s over hyped by the government. Largest permanent light and sound show in the world is such a «well-​worded» title, but it’s not that amazing even for the dozens of visiting friends I have entertained. (I didn’t make that call. Most of them insisted to watch the show.)
(2) The arrangement is mediocre. It’s like a bunch of kids playing with their green laser beams. The colors of the LED among buildings are hardly coordinated. The music, if you happen to be at Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront between the Avenue of Stars and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, or the promenade at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wanchai, is very cheesy to say the least.
(3) And again, if you are at TST or Wanchai, be prepared it will be flooded with Mainland Chinese tourists. And the narration on Tue/​Thu/​Sat will only be in Mandarin. It’s not like the Mainland Chinese particular like the show, but since the show is free, the Mainland Chinese tour groups (hundreds of them everyday) prefer to drop them off here to spend the time.
The only reason you’d enjoy this show is if you are having dinner at Aqua, Red, Sevva, Hooray, Tapagria, etc and happen to see it, then yeah go for it. But otherwise, «meh, I’ve experienced better.» is a pretty good summary.

This gets hyped up a lot, but the show itself is mediocre at best.

The Hong Kong skyline at night is breathtaking, the byproduct of having the most skyscrapers for any city in the entire world. Hong Kong also holds the Guinness World Record for the largest permanent light and sound show – A Symphony of Lights.
Leaning against the rail at the edge of Victoria Harbour on the Kowloon side, there is literally no direction I can turn my head that doesn’t show me a horizon hidden by buildings 60 stories high or taller. And there’s about to be a light show using this ridiculous city as its canvas? There are times when pushing six people out of your way on the MTR is absolutely legitimate, and making it here to see this show was one of them.
Its a shame then that the show is pretty terrible. In theory music plays and a mix of lasers and lights on the buildings themselves turn off and on in matching rhythm. The reality is not every building still participates apparently, or their default state is to have lights flashing up and down their sides with no connection to the show making things a bit of a confusing mess. Example: The first part of the show where the narrator names off all the major buildings in the skyline while the buildings respond with their own flashing lights is a great idea. I look at some of these needle-​topped towers all day and have no clue what they’re called. Too bad more than half the architecture took personal days during my show. «So which one was that?» was a repeated phrase by people around us.
The music is laughably bad, like something written by out-​of-​touch marketing execs in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s. For all I know it was. Mercifully, the show only lasts about 10 – 15 minutes and you still have a beautiful view you get to enjoy. The show is government funded by the tourism board which probably explains 98% of the quality issues. It’s free, so opportunity cost is the only thing at stake. Even then it’s still not worth it due to the mood-​ruining music and extra crowds you’ll have to fight. Just visit the Avenue of the Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui after dark and bring your own soundtrack.
Schedule:
8pm daily
English — M W F
Mandarin — T Th Sat
Cantonese — Sun

The Symphony of Lights is a laser light ‘show’ along the skyline of Hong Kong Island. I use the word show a bit loosely because I’ll be honest in that the show is not all that incredibly impressive… however, the skyline itself IS impressive. We hoofed it over here after our plane actually managed to arrive EARLY and after basically running from the airport to the train to a taxi and to the river, we were absolutely blown away by the size and beauty of the skyline in front of us. We never got to see it during the daylight, but at night it only adds to the impressiveness that Hong Kong is as a city. We ended up taking the Star Ferry over to the other side, and it was such a neat experience seeing the city at night. Our next stop was the tram station up to Victoria Peak, which I also highly recommend.
So, even if you can’t make the 8pm show, still make seeing the Hong Kong Island skyline at night a priority! A must-​see! Tons of food and nice shopping in the immediate surrounding area too.

This review is on something quite different from your usual one, this is not a restaurant, a mall or a location– it actually best descried as an event. The Symphony of Lights is a pyrotechnic laser show that takes place every evening at around 8 pm at the Harbour. Some twenty-​odd buildings along the Hong Kong Island side have fitted lights to the roof and at the bases of the buildings to create a show that could not be seen anywhere in the world. I say this a lot but this one really is unique to Hong Kong as it would be difficult to re-​create anywhere else.
When it first started I think everybody was quite excited about it– it was first introduced to lure tourists back to Hong Kong after the SARS epidemic and it felt really fresh. We have seen fireworks, light shows but one on this scale? I for one have never seen it before.
The light show goes on for around 15 minutes and on a clear night it really is possible to see the lasers sweeping thorugh the night sky (a bit like Gotham) but once again it showcases Hong Kong’ s beautiful cityscape.
Does it cost anything? Nope, its completely free and at certain locations along the TST waterfront you get the music that goes with it as well. On some special days they even have a little fireworks display coming from the top the HKCEC but not quite sure when that is.

Yeah, I’ve experienced better. I mean, the show is nice, but the lights and music are just an add-​on to the already stunning view.
I’ve been to the show three times, the two last ones with friends and family who came to visit and I felt the light show was one of those must see for them. And they did enjoy it, but we all concluded that: it’s so packed that it may not be worth it. In fact, I think it’s a much better option to walk along the Avenue of Stars at a less busy time during the week, just for the sake of it. Hong Kong skyline is amazing anytime, but especially at night and there’s no other excuse for you to get yourself to TST for a walk along the shore.
Don’t get me wrong, the show itself is a great one: for 10 minutes landmark buildings are involved in a light and laser performance and the music is synchronised with them. I could imagine anyone enjoying that if you weren’t squeezed into the crowd and having to stay on your toes to see something in the sea of mobile phones and cameras.
It’s still a great initiative to show it daily at the same time, and that’s probably the key: avoid weekends (!) and walk further along the Avenue where there are less people.
That’s what I’m doing next time, as this will still be in my compulsory list of things to do for my friends coming next month.