Get your caffeine fix at Coffee HK x Tokyo Coffee Festival

Does everyone in your life think you’re over-caffeinated while you believe you’re pretty chill? The debut Hong Kong edition of the renowned Tokyo Coffee Festival might just be the event for all your moods, or at least to meet some fellow bean-tweakers. The city’s first-ever large-scale outdoor coffee party is set to take place from April 18 to 21 at Art Park, West Kowloon, bringing together more than 100 coffee, liquor and cultural brands from Hong Kong, Japan and beyond for a fun twist on Easter weekend.

At the heart of the outing is the viral Chill Guy meme, created by artist Philip Banks in 2023, which took on a life of its own last year, becoming a global phenomenon and even inspiring a cryptocurrency token that briefly reached a market cap of more than US$580 million (suffice to say the high didn’t last). The Coffee HK x Tokyo Coffee Festival takes things back to the original Chill Guy ethos, to adopt a laid-back and mindful approach to life, encouraging the city’s denizens to pause, unwind and savour the moment with some proper Joe, an easy enough task to do when parked on a nice patch of grass with the Hong Kong skyline as a backdrop.

Included are 15 of Japan’s most popular coffee brands, providing a comprehensive look at the country’s coffee culture. Expect to see the likes of Tokyo’s laboratory-like Acid Coffee, which serves hand-brewed coffee in wine glasses for aromatic effect; Takayama-based Haiz Coffee, which sources its beans from Colombian small-scale farmers; and Lonich, known for serving a coffee omakase experience in Tokyo’s Kuramae neighbourhood.

An all-star line-up of nine award-winning baristas will be sharing their experiences over the course of the long weekend, including Chart Coffee founder and 2019 Hong Kong Siphonist Championship winner Wilson Chung, 2016 Coffee Fest New York Latte Art World Championship winner Ivy Lai and Coffee Quality Institute Q Grader Jeffrey Wu.

Aside from drinking as much as they can before the shakes kick in, visitors can also participate in more than 50 interactive workshops, covering themes such as hand-brewing, latte art, sensory experiences and eco-art. Music, wellness and pet-friendly activities will cater to the full spectrum of city dwellers, furry and otherwise.