The story of Lamma Fun Day, Hong Kong’s longest-running free music festival
Taking place this year on November 15 and featuring its biggest line-up, LFD raises money to support youth projects and initiatives in Nepal
When Lamma Fun Day (LFD) was first held in 2000, it was a small affair: no stages, just a few buskers singing next to a handful of stalls selling food and crafts. One stall offered massages.
David Wilkinson, the festival’s music coordinator for the past decade, recalls a couple of guys on guitars using a pay-to-hear tactic to tease money from the audience.
“Basically, you had to drop money into a box and request a cover song,” Wilkinson says. “If they knew the song, they would play a few bars and then stop. If you wanted more music, you put another HK$10 into the box.”
LFD is held each year on Lamma Island, about 12km (7.4 miles) off Hong Kong Island and accessible by ferry. The event has evolved from humble beginnings into the city’s longest-running free music festival.
And this year’s event, taking place on November 15, boasts the biggest line-up in the festival’s history: 45 bands, DJs and solo artists performing across four stages, with the most fun concentrated at Tai Wan To Beach, also known as Power Station Beach.
Run entirely by volunteers, LFD caters to every musical taste, from rock and folk to blues, reggae and electronic, says Wilkinson, whose band The VVs – the name derived from Lamma’s tiny village vehicles that zip around the island – is part of the line-up.