Best Of 2025: Celebrating Good Times!

It’s been a busy, brilliant year in Discovery Bay – one packed with standout events that brought neighbours together for fun, fitness, philanthropy and plenty of cultural exchange. Let’s take a look

PHOTOS COURTESY OF Andrew Spires, Sanday Chongo Kabange, Xing Ni Liu & DBSML

If 2025 proved anything, it’s that Discovery Bay’s widely acclaimed community spirit is alive and thriving. Residents and management alike stepped up with a year-long, event-filled social calendar – a testament to a place filled with people who work hard, play hard and care deeply about connecting with one another.

It's been a remarkable year bursting with activity – and while it’s impossible to mention every event, here’s a look at some of the highlights.

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

DB is arguably the most culturally diverse residential neighbourhood in all of Hong Kong, and nothing showcases that better than its festival calendar. From Chinese New Year to Halloween, Easter to Christmas, the plazas and promenades are – always – decorated, animated and alive with activity.

2025 kicked off with joyful celebrations for the Year of the Snake, featuring lion dances, festive workshops and a buzzing atmosphere across the plazas. The monthly DB Plant Market also continued to grow into an event in its own right, drawing crowds with its auspicious CNY offerings.

A major contributor to the cultural tapestry this year was DB-based NGO One World Spirit Association (OWS), which works tirelessly to promote Chinese and Western cultural exchange. In January, they hosted a Fai Chun Calligraphy Workshop and Competition at Midvale Village, followed by a lively CNY Village Party that featured Hanfu dress-ups, throw-pot games and paper-cutting workshops. OWS’ year-round efforts also included cultural tours to Guilin and Tibet, a series of Chinese etiquette seminars and this month’s St Nicholas visits.

On February 14, residents were invited to celebrate Valentine’s Day with Snoopy to mark the 75th anniversary of the Peanuts comic strip – couples gathered on Tai Pak Beach amid giant Snoopy- inspired candle lights, with live music by The Flame adding sparkle to the night. The Easter break proved just as lively, with the 18th DB Easter Egg Hunt and Carnival drawing children aged three to 10 to Tai Pak Beach on April 18 and 19.

As Halloween approached, DB embraced the spook early with the annual night market on October 26 at DB South Plaza. Over 50 vendors dressed in their scariest best, while dogs stole the show at the ‘Hallo-Woof’ pet runway contest. On the big night itself, seemingly everyone in the community headed to Headland Drive to trick-or-treat.

A longstanding community favourite, and a true celebration of local culture, the DB Dragon Boat Gala – now in its 35th year – returned to Tai Pak Beach in November, drawing 800+ enthusiastic paddlers and supporting Hong Kong Cancer Fund.

And so to December 2025 – DB’s plazas have once again transformed into a European-inspired Winter Wonderland, complemented by Christmas markets, festive family activities and Cantopop performances. (For more on this month’s happenings, turn to page 4.)

BIG-TICKET EVENTS

With its open spaces and spectacular beachfront, DB continues to attract major city-wide and international events. A sporting highlight this year was the hosting of two ITF BT100 / BT10 Beach Tennis World Tour events at Tai Pak Beach, in April and November. These International Tennis Federation- sanctioned tournaments brought top global players to DB to compete across men’s, women’s, mixed and over-40s categories – and DB residents got to enjoy the matches for free.

Music lovers were in for a treat in July as Nextwave XX25 Beach Music Festival returned to Tai Pak Beach on July 5 and 6, drawing some 4,000 attendees. With seven live performances each day and headliners including Eric Chou, Chung Ha and ITZY, the festival was supported by food stalls, a marketplace and a massive sea park.

Hot on its heels came DB Summer Splashtopia, in place from July 17 to August 31 – a perennial favourite among families. Hong Kong’s biggest beach waterpark featured eight giant inflatables, a 10-metre water slide and endless splash-tastic games. Another high-profile sports event – the third DB Open Water Race Challenge – dropped on August 31 with Tai Pak and Sam Pak beaches packed to the gills. Organised by Open Water Swim Series HK, the event was open to swimmers of all ages and abilities, with race distances ranging from 400m to 3.8km.

October saw the Lantau Yacht Club Boat Show – Festa Nautica, which showcased Hong Kong’s growing profile as a yachting hub, and brought yacht owners, industry professionals and curious residents together.

ECO & WELLNESS INITIATIVES

DB’s commitment to sustainability and wellness shone throughout 2025, kicking off with a Nature Exploration Workshop at Central Park on January 18, where families enjoyed outdoor workshops, games and a treasure hunt. September’s DB Wellness Day was another highlight at DB Plaza with dance performances, athletic demos, pet and parent-child yoga sessions, and a wellness-themed market.

Supported by management’s ongoing community- wide eco initiatives, homegrown environmental charities Plastic Free Seas and DB Green once again led the charge for sustainability, organising workshops, campaigns and monthly beach clean- ups throughout 2025. Residents also benefited from management-led recycling events, blood-donation drives and pet-vaccination days.

JUST FOR KIDS

DB is nothing if not child-focused, and there’s a place for young residents at almost every community event. Beyond the family-centric seasonal events and year-round workshops at Discovery Bay Office Centre, two major youth sporting fixtures stand out – the HLG Kart Race and Team Fear Junior Challenge.

The HLG Kart Race on November 22 saw more than 100 young competitors, aged 7 to 12, race karts provided by Harvey Law Group down an eight-foot- high ramp set up on Discovery Bay Road cycle lane. The event, now in its 10th edition, has become a beloved annual spectacle with proceeds going to Heep Hong Society.

On November 30, nearly 600 youngsters, aged 8 to 17, took part in the Team Fear Junior Challenge, an adrenaline-packed race involving running, coasteering, kayaking and rock scrambling across DB. Racers competed in teams of two, with sponsorship funds directed to Youth Outreach.

RUNNING & SPORTS

With ‘traffic-free’ roads and easy access to the Lantau trails, DB is a haven for runners, and it follows that road and trail races are on offer year-round. The most high-profile annual event has to be the DB leg of Action Asia Events’ Action Sprint Trail Series, which headed out from DB Plaza on May 18 this year, with runners blitzing 9km and 12km courses.

Numerous races were organised by residents, for residents: in April, DB Runners hosted a backyard ultra with 22 participants doing twice hourly loops around DB North, until there was only one person left ‘standing’. November 1 brought the hugely popular DB10K Charity Run, open to runners, walkers, families and pets, with funds raised going to Hong Kong Paws Foundation and Tails of Lantau.

Sporting events from clubs across DB – including Lantau Boat Club, DB Yacht Club, DB Pirates, DB Football Club, DB Golf Club and more – kept the athletic spirit alive all year. And there was plenty on offer at DB Recreation Club, notably November’s fiercely contested 18th Tennis Charity Cup.

A COMMUNITY WITH HEART

While 2025 was filled with altruistic events, none captured DB’s spirit of giving back more than Helper Appreciation Month in May. Throughout the month, residents, schools and businesses offered free activities – including yoga, football, HYROX training, music lessons and beach tennis – to DB aunties to celebrate their incredible contributions.

Helper Appreciation Month was a reminder that at its core, DB is a community defined not just by activity, but by connection, kindness and shared celebration. Here’s to the people who planned, participated in and supported local events this year. And here’s to an even brighter, bolder, more event-filled 2026!