Long queues formed outside cinemas on Thursday as cheap movie tickets went on sale as part of the government's Happy Hong Kong campaign.

Cinemas across Hong Kong are selling tickets at HK$30 each for all screenings this Saturday.

A man surnamed Leung, who was in line to get tickets at a cinema in Admiralty, praised the government’s initiative, saying it makes people happy after three years of pandemic.

Another man, Amar Vasandani, urged the government to consider giving each resident a cinema ticket.

"The promotion is good but they can come up with a better system and give everyone a ticket. One ticket for every citizen,” he said.

A woman surnamed Wong also hopes the government will launch similar promotions in future.

"It’s very attractive and that’s why we line up here because [the tickets are] too expensive. So maybe if they have more events like this, more children and other people can have a chance to go to the cinema to watch a movie,” she said.

Meanwhile, many cinema box office websites saw a surge in ticket demand as moviegoers logged on to snag the discounted tickets.

At around 11:45am, the Emperor Cinemas website showed over 22,000 people were in the queue, with an estimated waiting time of 4,500 minutes.

The Hong Kong Theatres Association said in response that cinemas have beefed up their servers and are doing “their best” to manage the crowds.

“We sincerely thank all citizens for their support of ‘Hong Kong Cinema Day’ and apologise to those who had to wait in line for tickets, ” the association said in a statement.
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Last updated: 2023-04-27 HKT 15:39