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Origin
The island of Cheung Chau was devastated by a plague and infiltrated by pirates until local fishermen brought an image of the god Pak Tai to the island. Paraded through the village lanes, the deity drove away evil spirits. Villagers also disguised themselves as different deities and walked around the island to drive away the evil spirits. -
Pak Kai temple
The people built an altar in front of the Pak Tai temple in the hopes that the god, Pak Tai, would drive off the evil spirits that had taken hold of their people and land. They would also trawl through the narrow lanes of the village parading a black wooden statue of Pak Tai on a sedan chair to help reduce plagues year after year, as an additional means of bringing more luck to their island. -
End of the plague
Thankfully, their efforts did not go to waste and the plague finally ended. -
Features of the festival
In addition to traditional lion dances and dragon dances, children dressed as legendary and modern heroes are suspended above the crowd on the tips of swords and paper fans. They form the parade-in-the-air and are all secured within steel frames, though they appear to glide through the air. Parents consider it a great honor for their offspring to be part of the parade. -
The bun scrambling competition
As time went on, further processions and rituals were added, including that of the bun scrambling competition. On the last night of the festival, they would have a competition: all the young men who had taken part in the festival would begin to climb 60-foot bamboo towers, covered in buns, and try to collect as many of them as possible. These buns were made from flour, sugar and water and would sometimes include flavors such as red bean, sesame or lotus. -
Accident during festival
During a race in 1978 one of the towers collapsed, injuring more than 100 people. In subsequent years, three designated climbers (one climber to each tower) raced up their respective towers and having cleared the top buns proceeded to strip the towers of their buns as they descended. -
Modern additions to festival
In 2005, a single tower climbing event in the adjacent sports ground was revived as a race—with extra safety precautions including proper mountain-climbing tools as well as tutorials for participants (which now include women). The three "Bun Mountains" are still placed in the area in front of Pak Tai Temple, and are constructed using the traditional fixation method — bamboo scaffolding. -
Team events introduced
A teamwork version of the event was added in 2006. The revised version of "Bun-snatching" as well as the traditional three "Bun Mountains" still have their buns removed from the towers at midnight of the Festival. -
Bamboo to plastic
In February 2007, it was further announced that the buns on the single-tower construct will henceforth be made of plastic. During the festival, Chinese operas, lion dances, and religious services also take place on the island. -
Vegetarian diet
On the three days of the festival the entire island eventually went vegetarian; most of the island's famous seafood restaurants adhere to this tradition. The local McDonald's also takes meat off the menu and instead sells veggie burgers made of mushrooms. -
COVID-19 affects festival
Event is canceled under the COVID-19 pandemic situation