The organisers of the annual Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival, have again cancelled the Bun Scrambling Competition and the Piu Sik (Floating Colours) Parade due to ‘Covid’.
The Cheung Chau Jiao Festival takes place on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar year, and runs from 6-9 May this year.
Legends say that the festival began after Cheung Chau was devastated by a plague in the late Qing dynasty. To dispel the plague Chiu Chow natives invited Taoist priests to set up a sacrificial altar near the Pak Tai Temple to pray to deities, offer repentance and to comfort departed souls. The residents also paraded deity statues along village lanes.
The plague ended soon after the ritual. Since then, residents on Cheung Chau have been organising the annual Jiao Festival to express gratitude to Pak Tai for blessing the area with peace.
Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 6-9 May 2022
Venue: Cheung Chau
Tickets: Free
The organisers of the annual Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival, have cancelled the Bun Scrambling Competition and the Piu Sik (Floating Colours) Parade due to the ‘Covid’.
The festival, which takes place on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar year, runs from 17-20 May this year.
Legends say that the festival began after Cheung Chau was devastated by a plague in the late Qing dynasty. To dispel the plague Chiu Chow natives invited Taoist priests to set up a sacrificial altar near the Pak Tai Temple to pray to deities, offer repentance and to comfort departed souls. The residents also paraded deity statues along village lanes.
The plague ended soon after the ritual. Since then, residents on Cheung Chau have been organising the annual Jiao Festival to express gratitude to Pak Tai for blessing the area with peace.
Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 17-20 May 2021
Venue: Cheung Chau
Tickets: Free
Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 17-20 May, 2021
Venue: Cheung Chau
Tickets: Free
The organisers of the annual Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival, have cancelled the Bun Scrambling Competition and the Piu Sik (Floating Colours) Parade due to the ‘Wuhan Flu’ health precautions.
The festival, which takes place on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar year, runs from 27th April to 1 May this year.
Legends say that the festival began after Cheung Chau was devastated by a plague in the late Qing dynasty. To dispel the plague Chiu Chow natives invited Taoist priests to set up a sacrificial altar near the Pak Tai Temple to pray to deities, offer repentance and to comfort departed souls. The residents also paraded deity statues along village lanes.
The plague ended soon after the ritual. Since then, residents on Cheung Chau have been organising the annual Jiao Festival to express gratitude to Pak Tai for blessing the area with peace.
Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 28 April – 1 May 2020
Venue: Cheung Chau
Tickets: Free
Cheung Chau Bun Festival (22-26 May 2015)
It all started with a plague that devastated Cheung Chau in the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911). The islanders built an altar in front of the Pak Tai Temple and petitioned the god Pak Tai to drive off the evil spirits besieging the island, while parading statues of deities through the narrow lanes of their village. The plague ended after the performance of these Taoist rituals and 100 years later the rituals are still performed in a festival that is listed as an intangible part of China’s cultural heritage.
The 2-day event includes Taoist ceremonies, Piu Sik Parade and the Bun Scrambling Competition involving three massive towers of buns.
Piu Sik Parade (2-4pm, 25 May 2015)
The highlight of the festival is the Piu Sik (Floating Colours) Parade. A reenactment of the ceremonial parade held to drive away a plague a century ago sees young children, dressed in the guises of traditional deities and modern celebrities, balance on poles and accompanied by gongs and lion dancers, appearing to float above the crowds in a carnival-like procession.
Bun Scrambling Competition (11:30pm 25 May – 12:30am 26 May, 2015)
Opposite the Pak Tai Temple, competitors stand poised at the bottom of an enormous bamboo tower studded with imitation buns. On the signal, they scramble up it and try to collect as many “lucky buns” as possible. The higher the buns, the more points they are worth.
Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 25 May, 2015
Venue: Cheung Chau
Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 6-9 May, 2022
Venue: Cheung Chau
Tickets: Free
Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 24-27 May, 2023
Venue: Cheung Chau
Tickets: Free
Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 13-16 May, 2024
Venue: Cheung Chau
Tickets: Free
