But with the city dropping almost all of its Covid-19 travel restrictions in December last year, she was confident more people would sign up in the coming months.

A WorldPride event was held in Hong Kong at the Petticoat Lane club on Saturday and organised by the Gay Games in partnership with the Australian consulate. Australian Consul-General Elizabeth Ward told the Post that the city hosting the Games was “a major achievement”.

She added: “The event will provide further opportunities to celebrate the values of inclusivity and diversity that both Australians and Hongkongers embrace.”

Brett Free, who serves on the Games advisory committee, noted that Hong Kong was competing for visitors against other places which had opened up.

“One of the challenges is trying to put Hong Kong at the front of people’s minds when they are considering their travel plans later in the year,” said Free, a former deputy director of the government’s Information Services Department.

Shawn Griffin, the Games’ director of arts and culture, revealed that three gala concerts, featuring dance, classical music and Cantopop, would be held with the public able to buy tickets for them.

“We have secured both local and international performers for the event,” he said, adding they hoped to finalise the venue in the next few weeks.

In the past, more than 60 per cent of Games participants came from outside the host city, and with Hong Kong the first place in Asia holding the event, Lam was hopeful about attracting people from the region.

The organisers will go to Thailand in April to attend Songkran, the Thai New Year’s national holiday, to spread the word about the event.

Gay Games photos and LGBTQ artists the focus of Hong Kong warm-up shows

Lam also confirmed that 90 per cent of the venues had been secured.

Queen Elizabeth Stadium, which will host the martial arts and dodgeball competitions, is the only currently confirmed government venue, with all the others managed by universities, international schools and private clubs.

Since government venues have a larger capacity, Lam did not rule out securing more public stadiums at a later stage.

Existing rules require the procedure be handled through national sports associations. With the Games being classified as a charity event, bookings can only be made three to six months in advance.

Hong Kong was originally to be the sole host of the Games, but the organisers decided last February that Guadalajara would share the duties due to the city’s stringent travel restrictions, after the event was postponed from last November to this year.

The tournament in Hong Kong will have 22 sporting events, as well as various arts and cultural activities, and 7,000 participants, instead of 12,000 as originally planned.

The Games are expected to open in Hong Kong and Guadalajara on November 3 and run for nine days, with both cities holding parallel competitions for major sports such as aquatics and track and field.

But a handful of events will be unique to each city due to their regional popularity, such as dragon boat racing, trail running and mahjong in Hong Kong, and cheerleading, which is popular in the West, in Guadalajara.

Gay Games scaled back in Hong Kong due to uncertainty over Covid-19 travel curbs

Anyone can take part, regardless of sexual orientation. Arts and cultural activities are also planned to run alongside the sporting events.

The competition has had to contend with criticism from conservative quarters of society, including certain politicians.

Lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu called the Games “disgraceful” during a Legislative Council session in June 2021, later warning the event was “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” that could pose a threat to traditional Chinese culture.

The city leader at the time, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, publicly condemned “unnecessarily divisive” comments about the event.