Lunar New Year fair stall auctions to start next month
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     The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (October 26) that stalls at the 2023 Lunar New Year (LNY) fairs will be put up for open auction in batches starting from November 9 (Wednesday).
 
     The LNY fairs are to be held at 15 locations and will be open for seven days from January 16 to 22, 2023. A total of 922 stalls will be put up for auction.
 
     A spokesman for the FEHD said, "Under the epidemic, it remains the case that the 2023 LNY fairs will not provide dry goods stalls. The fairs will provide only wet goods stalls for flower farmers to sell New Year flowers. At the same time, no fast food stalls will be provided to avoid increasing the risk of virus transmission through removing masks for eating."
 
     He added, "The Government will implement a series of infection prevention and control measures at the LNY fairs as detailed at Annex. Amongst other measures, a licensee and his/her staff deployed to work at the stall must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and must have undergone rapid antigen test (RAT) for COVID-19 at their own cost within 24 hours before the commencement of the fairs. They must undergo a COVID-19 RAT at their own cost for once before entering the fair in every three days and keep the RAT result for three days. A licensee and his/her staff must keep the vaccination records or recovery record QR codes and photos of the RAT kit showing negative test results as proof, and make such records available for FEHD staff's checking before and throughout the fairs."
 
     If a licensee and his/her staff deployed to work at the stall are unfit to receive COVID-19 vaccination for health reasons, they must make a declaration with the support of a COVID-19 Vaccination Medical Exemption Certificate (exemption certificate) printed with QR code. These persons must keep the exemption certificate as proof for FEHD staff's checking before and throughout the fairs. Moreover, the licensees are required to provide hand sanitisers at the stalls, to carry out regular cleaning and disinfection of their stalls, as well as to provide a list of staff and their contact information for tracing of confirmed cases when necessary.
 
     "Depending on the development of the epidemic situation of COVID-19, the anti-epidemic measures at the LNY fairs may be subject to change. The Government may also adjust the scale and business hours of the fairs, tighten the admission requirements for members of the public or even cancel the event. Interested parties should fully consider all these factors before participating in the auction," the spokesman reminded.
 
     The upset prices of the 2023 LNY fair stalls are frozen again at last year's level, which are half of those in 2019, and range from $320 to $5,440.
 
     The six fairs on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and in Islands District will provide 395 stalls. The fairs will be located at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, Tat Tung Road Garden in Tung Chung, Fa Hui Park in Sham Shui Po, Cheung Sha Wan Playground in Sham Shui Po, Morse Park in Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong Recreation Ground in Kwun Tong.
 
     The auction for stalls of the LNY fair in Victoria Park will be held on November 9 and 10 at the Assembly Hall, 2/F, Lai Chi Kok Government Offices, 19 Lai Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon. The auction sessions on the first auction day are scheduled from 9am to 12.30pm (AM session) and from 2pm (PM session). The auction session is scheduled from 9am until completion of the auction on the second auction day.
 
     The auction for stalls of Tat Tung Road Garden (Tung Chung) and Fa Hui Park (Sham Shui Po) LNY fairs will be held at the above venue on November 11 and 14 respectively. The auction sessions are scheduled from 9.30am until completion of the auctions.
 
     The auctions for stalls of the Cheung Sha Wan Playground (Sham Shui Po) and Morse Park (Wong Tai Sin) LNY fairs will be held at 9.30am and 2.30pm respectively at the above venue on November 15, until completion of the auctions.
 
     The auctions for stalls of the Kwun Tong Recreation Ground (Kwun Tong) LNY fair will be held at 9.30am at the above venue on November 16, until completion of the auction.
 
     Details of the auctions, the number of stalls and opening prices are as follows:
 
Victoria Park (Causeway Bay)
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Number of stalls: 175
 
Auction date: November 9 (Wednesday)
AM session: Stall Nos. 1 to 60
PM session: Stall Nos. 61 to 120
Opening price: $5,440
 
Auction date: November 10 (Thursday)
Stalls for auction: Stall Nos. 121 to 175
Opening price: $5,440
 
Tat Tung Road Garden (Tung Chung)
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Auction date: November 11 (Friday)
Number of stalls: 10
Opening price: $320
 
Fa Hui Park (Sham Shui Po)
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Auction date: November 14 (Monday)
Number of stalls: 70
Opening price: $2,950
 
Cheung Sha Wan Playground (Sham Shui Po)
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Auction date: November 15 (Tuesday)
Number of stalls: 50
Opening price: $420
 
Morse Park (Wong Tai Sin)
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Auction date: November 15 (Tuesday)
Number of stalls: 40
Opening price: $1,250
 
Kwun Tong Recreation Ground (Kwun Tong)
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Auction date: November 16 (Wednesday)
Number of stalls: 50
Opening price: $1,820
 
     In the New Territories, 527 stalls will be set up at nine fairs. They are located at Shek Wu Hui Playground in North District, Man Yee Playground in Sai Kung, Po Hong Park in Tseung Kwan O, Yuen Wo Playground in Sha Tin, Kwai Chung Sports Ground in Kwai Tsing, Tin Hau Temple Fung Shui Square in Tai Po, Sha Tsui Road Playground in Tsuen Wan, Tung Tau Industrial Area Playground in Yuen Long, and Tin Hau Temple Plaza in Tuen Mun. Except for Tin Hau Temple Plaza LNY fair in Tuen Mun, the auctions for stalls of these LNY fairs will be held at the Assembly Hall, 2/F, Lai Chi Kok Government Offices, from November 18 to 29. The auction sessions are scheduled from 9.30am until completion of the auction.
 
     The auction for stalls of Tin Hau Temple Plaza LNY fair in Tuen Mun will be held at Tseng Choi Street Community Hall, 27 Tseng Choi Street, Tuen Mun, on December 6. The auction session is scheduled from 9.30am until completion of the auction.
 
     Details of the auctions, the number of stalls and opening prices are as follows:
 
Shek Wu Hui Playground (North District)
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Auction date: November 18 (Friday)
Number of stalls: 54
Opening price: $600
 
Man Yee Playground (Sai Kung)
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Auction date: November 21 (Monday)
Number of stalls: 16
Opening price: $320
 
Po Hong Park (Tseung Kwan O)
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Auction date: November 21 (Monday)
Number of stalls: 54
Opening price: $700
 
Yuen Wo Playground (Sha Tin)
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Auction date: November 22 (Tuesday)
Number of stalls: 49
Opening price: $2,990
 
Kwai Chung Sports Ground (Kwai Tsing)
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Auction date: November 24 (Thursday)
Number of stalls: 76
Opening price: $410
 
Tin Hau Temple Fung Shui Square (Tai Po)
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Auction date: November 25 (Friday)
Number of stalls: 46
Opening price: $1,900
 
Sha Tsui Road Playground (Tsuen Wan)
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Auction date: November 28 (Monday)
Number of stalls: 96
Opening price: $1,480
 
Tung Tau Industrial Area Playground (Yuen Long)
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Auction date: November 29 (Tuesday)
Number of stalls: 96
Opening price: $590
 
Tin Hau Temple Plaza (Tuen Mun)
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Auction date: December 6 (Tuesday)
Number of stalls: 40
Opening price: $1,250
 
     Bidders for LNY fair stalls must be at least 18 years old and ordinarily reside in Hong Kong. As the auction venue has a limited capacity, registration is on first-come-first-served basis. All persons entering the auction venue must fulfill the requirement of Vaccine Pass while those under the category of Red Code and Amber Code are not allowed to enter the venue. They are also required to comply with the measures for the prevention of COVID-19 to be implemented at the auction venues, which include body temperature screening to be conducted before entering the venues and masks to be worn at all times while inside the venues. On the auction day, except for exempted persons, all persons are required to scan the "LeaveHomeSafe" venue QR code using the "LeaveHomeSafe" mobile application on their phones before entering an auction venue. Exempted persons are required to complete a form to register their name, the first four digits or letters of their identification document, their contact number and the date and time of their visit. They are also required to present relevant identification documents for verification by the on-site staff.
 
     Anyone can bid for more than one stall. A bidder must pay the bid price and register in person with his or her own name as the licensee of the stall immediately after successfully bidding for a stall. The bidder is also required to sign at once a licence agreement with the FEHD, or he/she will forfeit the rights to operate the stall.
 
     All fair sites will be made available to the licensees three days in advance of the fairs (from January 13 to 15, 2023) for the setting up of stalls. The Government may without cause postpone the commencement date and shorten the duration of the licensed period (including the duration for setting up stalls and the business period of the fair), or suspend or cancel the LNY fair wholly or in part. The bidding price (licence fee) paid will be refunded to the affected licensee on a pro-rata basis without interest. The licensee and his/her employees or agents must vacate the licenced area no later than the time specified by the Government verbally (by way of press release, public announcement or other similar communications) or in writing.
 
     Stall licensees must completely remove the stall structure and all paraphernalia, together with all refuse, debris and unsold commodities (whether damaged or otherwise) from the licensed area before 7am on January 22, 2023 (9am for the Victoria Park LNY fair).
 
     The FEHD reminded licensees that the stalls are solely for the purpose of selling and promoting the sale of the permitted commodities, and no other activities are allowed in the licensed area. If the FEHD considers that any activity conducted by the licensee to publicise, promote, display, show or sell any permitted commodities in the venue is unlawful, immoral or incompatible with the object of the LNY fair, the FEHD is entitled to direct the licensee to stop conducting such activity and the licensee must immediately comply with such direction.
 
     Stall licensees should not destroy, damage or abandon any unsold commodities at or in the vicinity of the stall. They may surrender unsold flowers and plants left behind at the stall to the FEHD at no charge, cost or compensation whatsoever, before 7am on January 22, 2023 (9am for the Victoria Park LNY fair).
 
     Successful bidders shall comply with all the stipulations and provisions as set out in the licence agreement. Otherwise, the department is entitled to terminate the agreement and the licensee shall immediately vacate the stall.
 
     Details of the 2023 LNY fairs such as the public notice, the locations and layouts of the fair venues, commodities allowed for sale at the fair stalls, open auction arrangements and related rules as well as a sample of the licence agreement are available at the FEHD website (www.fehd.gov.hk). For enquiries, please call the FEHD hotline at 2868 0000.

Ends/Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Issued at HKT 10:00

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