Thousands of visitors flocked to Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau island on Sunday for the annual Bun Festival, as crowds gathered to watch the famous “floating children” parade and prepare for the traditional midnight bun-scrambling competition.
More than 18,000 visitors attended the daytime festivities, while ferry operator Sun Ferry said about 38,000 passengers travelled between Central and Cheung Chau by 9pm.
Temperatures reached 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), prompting long queues for frozen treats including pineapples, watermelon juice and mango mochi as tourists packed the island’s narrow streets.
One of the festival’s main attractions, the Piu Sik Parade, featured children suspended on hidden steel frames to appear as if they were floating through the air.
The children were dressed as public figures and characters inspired by current events and popular culture, including Middle Eastern oil moguls, judges and government officials linked to recent policy debates.
Several floats referenced rising oil prices, changes to Hong Kong’s HK$2 public transport subsidy scheme, and concerns over bid-rigging in construction projects.
One float focused on anti-corruption themes and tighter oversight of public tenders, reflecting wider public attention on construction safety and governance issues following a deadly blaze in Tai Po last year.
Visitors from mainland China and overseas travelled to the island specifically for the centuries-old festival, also known as the Da Jiu Festival, after seeing highlights online and on social media.
Families and tourists crowded the island’s narrow alleys throughout the day, many stopping to photograph the parade and traditional performances.
Festival vendors reported strong business, with long queues forming at stalls selling local snacks and frozen desserts as the celebrations continued into the evening.
Attention later shifted to the festival’s iconic bun-scrambling competition, where contestants race up a steel tower to collect imitation buns in a contest rooted in local Taoist traditions.
Returning champions and first-time competitors took part in the midnight event, which traditionally marks the climax of the celebrations.
The Cheung Chau Bun Festival, dating back more than a century, is one of Hong Kong’s best-known traditional cultural events and regularly attracts large crowds of tourists and residents alike.
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