Hong Kong International Reggae Ska Festival Returns to PMQ for 2026

Roy Ellis aka Mr. Symarip is billed among headliners as the Hong Kong International Reggae Ska Festival promotes a return to PMQ in Central, but public listings currently show two different dates for the PMQ edition. Playwhat and PMQ event copy present a packed lineup and ticketing for 17 May 2025, while a separate local event listing reads that the festival is scheduled for PMQ on Saturday, May 30, 2026, and includes a truncated line that ends, “The festival’s return was reported in local event listings on March 9, 2026 and c”

The Playwhat and PMQ pages advertise the event as “The BIGGEST ever Hong Kong International Reggae Ska Festival returns to PMQ 元創方 on Saturday 17th May.” Playwhat’s event table lists the date as 17 May 2025, time 18:00 - 23:00 and a ticket price of HKD 680. The Playwhat lineup description names “Boss Reggae and Trojan Record legend Roy Ellis aka Mr. Symarip (Jamaica), Dirty Reggae from The Aggrolites (USA), perfect Reggae beats from Prince Fatty (UK), big band Ska with T-bone (Thaliand), The Red Stripes (HK), Murphy and The Lawyers (HK) and selecters Heavy Hongkong, UmmU and CHILI Q.” Playwhat directs fans to buy tickets via Ticketflap and frames the event as “Asia’s biggest celebration of Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady and Dub music.”

Ocultmag’s feature places the festival in a longer historical thread, noting the event “launched a decade ago” and that it was “First held at the Fringe Club in 2016.” Ocultmag lists past international names associated with the festival’s programming such as Neville Staple of The Specials and The Toasters, and includes organiser quotes attributed to “Paul.” Paul says, “After the pandemic we had to rebuild from scratch, but never lost the passion to bring this music to the city. We organised The Wailers in Central last year and also other smaller events featuring bands from around the region, and now we can finally return to PMQ where we held our most memorable events in the past.” He adds, “Hong Kong and reggae do have a very connected but little-known history; we recently worked with Heavy HK and brought IKong and Skunga Kung to the city, both direct relatives of Leslie Kong who still live and create music in Jamaica,” and notes, “Cantonese reggae artist Mouse FX also worked on an album in Jamaica with Skunga Kong, bringing the contemporary links between the history of Leslie Kong and the city back together. We would love to believe that the festival maintains those close ties and connects us even further.”

Logistics on the Playwhat/PMQ listing place the event at PMQ Qube, 2/F 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Hong Kong Island, Central and Western, and provide PMQ contact details: phone 2870 2335 and email info@pmq.org.hk. Playwhat reproduces PMQ background copy noting the site’s origin: “Before revitalisation, PMQ was built in 1951 as the Police Married Quarters. In November 2010, the HKSAR Government announced the plan to preserve the site for creative industries uses.”

At present public materials and organiser assets also carry branding dated ©HKIRSF 2026 All Rights Reserved, yet the calendar discrepancy remains: Playwhat/PMQ show a 17 May 2025, 18:00–23:00, HKD 680 ticketed event; Ocultmag and other coverage reference May 17 with a 6pm start; a separate local listing explicitly schedules PMQ for Saturday, May 30, 2026 and includes the truncated report line cited above. If the 2026 PMQ date holds, the festival will mark roughly a decade since the first Fringe Club edition in 2016 and follows a period of post-pandemic rebuilding highlighted by organiser statements about presenting The Wailers in Central last year.

The festival lists social channels under the HKIRSF brand and PMQ remains the venue contact for bookings and queries at 2870 2335 or info@pmq.org.hk. Organisers have published ticketed listings on Ticketflap for the Playwhat event page; until organisers publish a consolidated 2026 date and lineup, the available Playwhat/PMQ lineup and Ticketflap price details reflect the currently visible ticketed listing.