After a three-year hiatus, the Cheung Chau Bun festival is making its long-awaited comeback, with the festivities scheduled for May 26. The festival's main event, the bun snatching competition, where climbers scale a 60-foot bamboo tower mounted with buns scrambling to get the most buns, is open for registration beginning today.
On Cheung Chau Island, southwest of Hong Kong Island, the Taoist sacrificial ceremony dates back to the 18th century and takes place on Buddha's birthday, which falls on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month in the Chinese calendar.
Festivities surrounding the celebration include a parade, or floating colours, featuring children dressed up as public or historical figures attached to long bamboo poles and 'floating' mid-air.
Plain, vegetarian buns stamped with Chinese characters for 'peace' are traditionally served on this day. These buns are also the stars of the festival– the bun snatching competition sees trained athletes vie for the buns at the top of the 'mountain' worth the most points.
One of the most unusual sporting events to take place in the city and in the region, bun snatching dates as far back as the festival itself but was suspended for safety reasons after a bun tower collapsed on top of another in 1978, leaving more than 100 participants injured.
Traditionally, villagers in Cheung Chau participated in the event to bring luck and fortune to their loved ones. It's said that those who manage to snatch a bun at the top of the tower will be most favoured by fortune in the coming year.
While mostly teenage villagers participated in the event, it became a full-fledged sporting competition when the tradition was revived in 2005. Participants had to abide by safety rules and use climbing gear and were given basic climbing training ahead of the event.
For safety reasons, the rules surrounding the event were further refined, which meant it's no longer open to just anyone who's hungry for some buns.
A points system was introduced as part of the event's revival, which meant that, while anyone could technically sign up, the competition drew a crowd of well-trained athletes. Participants must qualify for one of 12 spots to scale a stainless steel tower from which plastic buns hang. This bun tower is made in addition to the three traditional bamboo towers with edible peace buns reserved for ceremonial purposes.
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