Labubu Joins Hong Kong Toy Float for 2026 Lunar Night Parade

The Hong Kong Tourism Board announced that Labubu will be one of the featured characters on a Hong Kong Brand Toy Association float in the 2026 Cathay International Chinese New Year Night Parade, a move that puts designer toy IP squarely into the city’s biggest Lunar New Year street spectacle. The board revealed details in a press release on January 28, 2026 and held a press conference on January 27 to publicise the parade and the new float lineup.

The parade will take place on the first evening of the Lunar New Year, February 17, 2026, along Tsim Sha Tsui, and will run under the theme Best Fortune. World Party. The Hong Kong Tourism Board said the event will feature dozens of floats and performing groups. Selected floats will be exhibited at Kai Tak Sports Park after the parade, allowing fans and collectors a closer look at the seasonal displays.

Labubu, the popular character associated with Kasing Lung and Pop Mart’s The Monsters line, appears on the Hong Kong Brand Toy Association float that showcases local toy intellectual properties. Hong Kong Brand Toy Association’s inclusion of Labubu signals a deliberate push to spotlight homegrown and regional toy IP on a major tourism and culture platform. For collectors, street-level fans, and local creators, the float offers an opportunity to see high-profile art toy characters presented in parade-scale form, a rarity for the designer toy scene.

Beyond spectacle, the float and the post-parade exhibition at Kai Tak Sports Park have clear practical value for the community. Designers and independent labels gain exposure to an international parade audience that includes tourists and local families. Collectors gain photo opportunities and potential merchandising tie-ins, while small retailers and pop-up vendors can leverage the visibility around Tsim Sha Tsui and the exhibition venue. The parade’s title sponsor, Cathay, and the Hong Kong Tourism Board aim to fold creative industries into the Lunar New Year program, strengthening the link between cultural events and creative commerce.

The prominence of Labubu alongside other local IPs also matters for younger audiences who follow character drops and blind-box releases. Seeing a character transition from a shelf or social feed to a public float helps normalize designer toys as part of Hong Kong’s cultural fabric, not just a niche hobby.

Plan to attend the parade on February 17 if you want to catch Labubu on the move, or visit Kai Tak Sports Park after the event to view the selected floats up close. The inclusion of toy IP in the parade shows how the city’s festival calendar can elevate creative communities and create new moments for collectors and creators to connect.