Concertgoers at British band Coldplay’s concerts in Hong Kong will be allowed to bring empty reusable plastic or silicone bottles into Kai Tak Stadium, organiser Live Nation has said.
Empty reusable plastic or silicone bottles with a capacity of 600 millilitres or less will be allowed into the stadium, where Coldplay’s concerts will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
Disposable plastic and glass bottles, aluminium cans, and thermal bottles and cups will still be prohibited, according to the organiser’s social media post shared on Sunday.
The stadium is equipped with water dispensers.
Greenpeace last week called on Kai Tak Sports Park, Hong Kong’s flagship sports venue that houses the stadium, to provide reusable plastic cups after it estimated around 510,000 paper cups were used during the Hong Kong Sevens from March 28 to 30.
With the stadium banning visitors from bringing their own containers, the consumption of paper cups was “alarming,” said Greenpeace campaigner Leanne Tam, adding that the sports park’s sustainability efforts were merely a “façade.”
On March 9, Greenpeace said the Kai Tak Arena management had “violated its own rules” by providing plastic bottled water to VIPs at a snooker tournament while banning people from bringing drinks into the venue.
Other banned items
Live Nation on Sunday also listed more venue regulations, including a ban on professional cameras and other recording equipment, such as selfie sticks and tripods, as well as laptops, tablets, and drones. Fan banners and balloons are also prohibited.
To be allowed into the standing zone, audience members must be at least 12 years old and taller than 1.4 metres. The seating zone will permit children aged three years old and older.
Concertgoers must also undergo bag checks before entering, with bags measuring more than 38 by 30 by 20 centimetres banned from the venue.
The four sold-out shows this week mark the first major international music act to perform at Kai Tak Sports Park, which the government has touted as a “state-of-the-art” venue for large-scale events in a bid to boost tourism amid the city’s slow recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
