Culture & Leisure

The Wine and Dine Festival last weekend stopped serving plastic cups following the government's plastic ban and encouraged guests to bring their own glasses or buy them on-site, as visitors increased by 10% from last year. The move aligned with the city’s' plastic-free initiatives, said Raymond Chan Chun-man, the Hong Kong Tourism Board's general manager of event and product development, “We encourage people to bring their own wine glasses. Instead, each visitor will receive a souvenir glass sleeve," he said. Wine glasses were also sold for $50. Participating restaurants and bars were allowed to pass out their own cutlery and cups to customers. “While we do recommend them to use the cups we provided, it is not within our purview to decide how they use them,” said Wong, a staff worker at the event who asked not to disclose his full name. Last year, plastic cups were sold at the festival for HK$5 each. The five-day festival at the Central Harbourfront expanded its opening hours until 11pm for the first time, with more than 300 participating booths offering thousands of global wines and cuisine, attracting about 155,000 visitors. Some visitors said the use of wine glasses enhanced their tasting experience, in terms of flavour and convenience. “Paper cups produce more bubbles in the middle of the drink and indirectly distort the flavour of the wine, whereas glasses do not,” said Kelvin Lee, a clerk at a non-profit organisation that supports children’s mental health. “If you finish a drink from one store and you want to go to the next one, the booth holder just needs to help you to swish the glass with water and then you can continue to use it,” said Jo Man, the CEO of the same NGO. “After guests have finished their wine, we clean their …

Queensland pays tribute to World Mental Health Day with an art exhibition raising awareness about mental health from 4 to 10 October. The Richmond Fellowship Queensland, a leading provider of mental health services, hosted the Recovered Futures Art Exhibition as a part of Queensland’s Health Week, showcasing 270 works of artists with lived mental health experiences. The exhibition has run for 33 years and continues to embrace the power of art and encourage conversations about mental health, recovery and well-being. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in five Australians experienced a 12-month mental disorder between 2020 and 2022, which constitutes a diagnosis of a lifetime mental disorder. Two in five people aged 16 to 24 were diagnosed with a 12-month mental disorder. Tea Delalic, Manager of Communications and Events of Richmond Fellowship Queensland, hopes visitors will develop an awareness of mental health after viewing each piece. “With all our artwork, there’s one common theme you’ll always see and that is hope. It’s no matter what their journey has been, or what they’ve gone through, there is always that hope that things will be okay and it will get better.” Delalic said many artists were initially hesitant to share their art because society places mental health labels that may limit their potential and affect their self-esteem. “Some artists need to come to a few exhibitions first to know that they are capable of doing this. With the Recovered Futures Art Exhibition, artists are like a little team that gives positive feedback to one another.” All works on display are for sale, with 85 per cent of their sales going to the artist. Pauly Jay, a barber-turned-artist who painted live in the exhibition, shared his experience with mental health and passion for street-art style paintings. “I have ADHD and I …