CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: The annual winter holiday extravaganza Hong Kong WinterFest, organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), has begun. To usher in the joyful Christmas season, a bigger-than-ever, gift-themed Christmas Town covering more than 10,000 square feet was unwrapped to the public, while the Winter Harbourfront Pyrotechnic Display had its first showing.

This year’s highly-anticipated Christmas Town is 30 percent bigger than last year’s, giving visitors a host of fantastic photo opportunities. Busy gnomes have filled Christmas Town with nearly 100 decorated gift boxes of different shapes and sizes in vibrant colours. With delightful gift boxes on every corner, locals and tourists will find themselves walking through an enchanting winter wonderland whichever way they turn.

Towering 20 metres above Christmas Town and as high as a six-storey building, the giant Christmas tree is decorated with colourful ornaments and topped with a sparkling octagonal star. For the first time, the tree will feature light projections of seasonal scenes dancing across its branches, including Christmas candies, snowmen, and snow.

Colourfully decorated photo spots are scattered across Christmas Town and, for the first time, there is a Festive Light Tunnel for visitors to walk through. As they step in, they will find themselves immersed in a magical scene of busy gnomes hard at work preparing gifts for Christmas in a quaint, snowy village filled with smoke. Inside Christmas Town, visitors will also find traces of the Christmas gnomes and their good friends, Hong Kong’s iconic pandas. Santa Claus himself will make surprise appearances for meets-and-greets in a cosy Christmas hut. The HKTB has also arranged handbell and choir performances to help visitors get into the Christmas party spirit.

After the premiere of the spectacular Winter Harbourfront Pyrotechnic Display, which dazzled crowds with its bursts of festive pyrotechnics, the display will return for three consecutive nights at 8:00 pm on 24, 2,5 and 26 December, bringing explosions of holiday joy to the skies of Hong Kong and preparing the city for the hugely popular New Year Countdown Fireworks Display.

Festivals, Travel, Events