It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Causeway Bay thanks to a festive yarn bombing on stretch of handrail in a busy shopping district.
Santa Claus, accompanied by Rudolph and two snowmen appeared in the Fashion Walk shopping arcade — albeit in crochet form — to the delight of many shoppers trying to get some last-minute Christmas shopping done.
The yarn art installation by La Belle Epoque, an arts and crafts store based in Fortress Hill, appeared in mid-November. It’s future, however, came under a cloud when authorities turned Grinch and asked for its removal.
According to hk01, Fashion Walk had kept three government departments in the loop by submitting applications for the display. And initially, the Lands, Highways, and Transport departments said they had “no objections” to the display.
However, the website then reported that on Dec. 4, Fashion Walk received a notice from the three departments asking for the crocheted decorations to be removed.
According to a Facebook post by La Belle Epoque, Fashion Walk were urged to remove the installation because of a complaint by one person.
In a bid to keep the display in place, Fashion Walk and La Belle Epoque turned to Facebook, posting that they were told to remove the yarn installation by Dec. 10, and calling on Hongkongers to “like” the post in order to keep the installation.
More than 26,000 “reacted” to the news, while more than 2,800 people shared the post using the tag “one person one like to keep the Christmas railing.”
It is hard to believe anyone would buy such a yarn, but it was even picked up by media outlets including Ming Pao, Apple Daily, and Oriental Daily.
The Highways Department told Apple Daily that Fashion Walk did not submit the required details for the installation until Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. It added that it told Fashion Walk that it does not oppose the plan.
According to Hong Kong Economic Times, it seems the authorities gave in to public pressure and the display will be up until Jan. 2 next year, so there’s still time for Hongkongers to grab that festive Instagram photo.
