To get the best spot, many of them had already arrived on the island hours before the Piu Sik parade – featuring about 20 floats – kicked off at 1.30pm.
Children, who were held up on stilts and paraded through the Cheung Chau streets, dressed up as prominent figures ranging from Financial Secretary Paul Chan to snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan – who recently become a Hong Kong resident.
Ahead of the National Games in November, the young performers also personified diving queen Quan Hongchan and local fencing sensation Edgar Cheung.
A child was also dressed up as Ne Zha, the titular character from the mainland blockbuster animation Ne Zha 2.
Jakub, who moved to Hong Kong from the Middle East last August, was one of many who travelled to the outlying island for the parade.
“We like the festival, we like old traditions, and it’s quite [a] famous festival, so we would like to see it. It’s amazing. It’s great but the weather is too hot today. But it’s great,” he told RTHK.
Earlier before noon, queues had already formed outside bakeries offering lucky buns stamped with peace messages.
A shopkeeper told RTHK that business at his bakery, which sells the white lucky buns with pink lettering, surged 10 percent compared to last year, exceeding his expectations.
“As we work in the retail and catering industries, we knew that consumption is weak,” he said. “So we didn’t expect sales to be as good as last year.”
But he noted that there were not many mainland tourists visiting the island for the festival despite the Labour Day Golden Week. He said they had only bought a couple of buns.
A woman surnamed Zhou and her friend took the 8am ferry to Cheung Chau from Central to experience the bun festival.
The pair came from Hangzhou to Hong Kong for work more than six months ago.
“We heard that this cultural activity in Cheung Chau is very unique, and it’s an intangible cultural heritage. So we want to experience this very local and traditional event in Hong Kong very much.”
Officiating the parade, Undersecretary for Home and Youth Affairs Clarence Leung said the annual bun festival can attract tourists to explore Hong Kong’s unique culture.
“This year’s festival coincides with the Golden Week, which allows more tourists to see Cheung Chau during the long holiday and experience the bun festival,” he said.
Tourism minister Rosanna Law will officiate the traditional bun-scrambling competition at midnight.
As of noon, about 12,300 people had travelled to Cheung Chau from Central, according to ferry operator Sun Ferry.
That represents a fall of 10 percent compared to last year, it added.
The company has arranged more than double the number of Cheung Chau-bound ferries, with up to five boats running every hour.
