Thousands descended upon Central Harbourfront on Friday to bask in the evening atmosphere and indulge in the finer things at the Wine and Dine Festival.

The annual flagship culinary event organised by the Tourism Board is featuring more than 300 booths from around the world.

Phil from South Africa was in a long queue outside a booth selling wines from the UK. He said the festival this year was bigger than even those before the pandemic.

“I’ve been here previously, like pre-Covid. There’re a lot more people here. It seems a bit bigger. I’m having a really good time, so it’s interesting,” he told RTHK.

He also said the nation’s alcohol producers have made leaps and bounds.

“I had a Chinese Chardonnay earlier, and it was good... I had some Chinese wines like 10 or 15 years ago, and it was terrible. Now, it’s like quite good.”

At another booth was Umesh, who was enjoying a glass of Finnish wine. He said he was able to taste drinks that he had never tried before.

“We’ve tried Finland’s. We’ve tried China’s. We’ve tried France’s. Not disappointed yet. I can’t wait to see the others, because I’ll probably find stuff that I don’t know existed,” he said of his first Wine and Dine Festival experience.

The five-day festival will end on Sunday.