Curry fishball toys a hit as Hong Kong nostalgia shines at Lunar New Year fair

Curry fishball plushies, novelty minibus signs and products inspired by Hong Kong iconography emerged as bestsellers at the city’s biggest Lunar New Year fair, with one vendor saying he made more than HK$100,000 (US$12,790) in daily sales.From first-time sellers to charities, vendors were busy attracting customers with their locally designed merchandise on Wednesday as tens of thousands of festivalgoers lined the booths at Victoria Park’s Lunar New Year Fair.Among the busiest stalls was Lo Hey, which had earlier gone viral online for its plushies based on traditional Hong Kong street food, such as curry fishballs.The stall was opened by a 45-year-old Hongkonger surnamed Choi, who previously operated a hotpot restaurant under the same name.Staff were seen charming patrons by pretending to season and sauce the plushies arranged on a grill to emulate the street food experience, even placing the toys in paper bags used at food stalls for takeaway.Emily Tse, a 21-year-old student from Polytechnic University, who works as an employee at the stall, said that business remained strong compared with earlier days of the fair, with daily sales estimated at about HK$100,000.