Late superstar Leslie Cheung to add magic to Hong Kong’s Pop Culture Festival

A newly restored 4K film featuring the late Hong Kong superstar Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing will be part of this year’s Pop Culture Festival, but the government expects a 25 per cent drop in attendance over last year due to a shorter programme.Pat Wong Kit-yi, a chief manager at the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, said on Wednesday the festival welcomed 800,000 visitors in 2025, but this year 600,000 were expected to attend.“We’ve condensed the festival by a month, lasting from April to June instead of April to July,” she said. “The reason for this is because the department is hosting many different festivals, such as the Chinese Culture Festival in June.”The event will cost HK$15 million (US$1.9 million), similar to last year’s price tag, and is being entirely covered by the department’s regular budget with no need to apply for funding from the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency, according to Wong.She said one of the festival highlights would be the 25th anniversary of the department’s Hong Kong Film Archive featuring a newly restored 4K version of 1999’s The Kid starring Cheung as a father of an adopted son.Performers take the stage at a press conference for the Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival on Wednesday. Photo: Karma LoFilm director Jacob Cheung Chi-leung recalled the superstar accepted a token salary of HK$1 for the role to help the industry through a difficult period after the financial crisis.