1st March 2020 – (Hong Kong) Two events at the annual Cheung Chau Bun Festival, a traditional Chinese festival on the island of Cheung Chau in Hong Kong originally scheduled to be held at the soccer pitch of Pak Tai Temple Playground on Cheung Chau has been cancelled.
The 2020 Bun Carnival is jointly organised by the Hong Kong Cheung Chau Bun Festival Committee and the LCSD. After thorough deliberation, the organising committee has decided to cancel related activities in order to avoid people gathering and to reduce social contact and the risk of the spread of COVID-19 virus in the community.
Activities that have been cancelled include:
(1) Training on Bun Tower Climbing;
(2) The Selection Contest for the Bun Scrambling Competition;
(3) The Climbing Carnival; and
(4) The Bun Scrambling Competition.
The Bun snatching festival and part of the performance in the parade have been cancelled. The praying activities will resume as normal. The centrepiece of the festival is at Pak Tai Temple where the “Bun Mountains” or “Bun Towers” stand. These are three giant 60-feet bamboo towers covered with buns. It is these bun-covered towers that give the festival its name.
In addition to traditional lion dances and dragon dances, children usually dress 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 honour for their offspring to be part of the parade. While the parade will commence on 30th April but the session involving the children and paper fans is cancelled. There won’t be any seats set up for guests near the Tin Hau Temple at Tai Shek Hau this year.
The organiser may make further changes to the events if the coronavirus outbreak worsens.