Cheung Chau Bun Festival 2027
In short: the 2027 Cheung Chau Bun Festival runs from Monday 10 May to Friday 14 May 2027, and the main day - the Piu Sik parade and the midnight bun scrambling - is Thursday 13 May 2027. A day trip works for the parade; the midnight scramble all but requires an overnight stay.
The Bun Festival is the island's biggest event of the year. For five days this fishing village gives itself over to a Taoist celebration of Pak Tai: bamboo bun towers outside the temple, a village-wide vegetarian kitchen, and on the main day a parade of "floating" children followed at midnight by the bun scrambling. This guide sets out what you actually have to decide - which day to come, whether to stay the night, and how to handle the ferries on parade day.
2027 dates: Monday 10 to Friday 14 May
The festival is fixed by the lunar calendar. It runs from the fifth to the ninth day of the fourth lunar month, and its main day falls on the eighth day of that month, which is also Buddha's Birthday. For 2027 that gives a five-date window:
- Festival: Monday 10 May to Friday 14 May 2027
- Main day: Thursday 13 May 2027 - Piu Sik parade in the afternoon, bun scrambling at midnight
13 May 2027 is a gazetted Hong Kong general holiday (Buddha's Birthday), so the busiest day of the festival falls on a Thursday rather than a weekend.
One caveat before you book: the 2027 dates are firm, but the detailed 2027 programme has not been published yet - the Hong Kong Tourism Board's live listing is still the 2026 edition (21-25 May 2026, with the parade on Sunday 24 May). The day-by-day shape below is the festival's established pattern; confirm exact 2027 start times nearer the date.
The festival, day by day
| Day | Date | What happens |
| Day 1 | Mon 10 May | Festival opens and the vegetarian period begins; paper gods and the bun towers go up at Pak Tai Temple. |
| Day 2 | Tue 11 May | Vegetarian period continues; paper gods and bun towers at the temple. |
| Day 3 | Wed 12 May | Dragon dances and traditional opera around Pak Tai Temple; vegetarian period continues. |
| Day 4 (main day) | Thu 13 May | Vegetarian until the parade passes. Piu Sik parade from about 1:30pm. Bun scrambling at midnight. |
| Day 5 | Fri 14 May | Temple statues return to their temples; the lucky buns are handed out to the community. |
Most visitors come for Day 4 alone. Days 1-3 are the quieter half of the festival and the best time to see the bun towers and temple ceremonies without a crush; Day 5 is mostly a community day.
The Piu Sik parade
Piu Sik ("floating colours") is the centrepiece and the reason the island fills up. Children dressed as Chinese opera and mythological characters are carried through the streets on hidden supports so that they appear to float above the crowd, each float holding two children. The procession re-enacts the old tour of the village by the image of Pak Tai, the god of the north and patron of fishermen, joined by lion dances, marching bands and deity palanquins.
When to be there
- Teams assemble at the Pak Tai Temple playground by 1:30pm on Thursday 13 May.
- The procession moves off along Pak She Street at about 1:40pm and runs for about three hours, finishing around 5pm.
- It is the island's busiest day - the 2026 parade day alone drew around 18,000 visitors - so come early rather than hoping to slip in mid-parade.
Where to stand
The parade forms up at the Pak Tai Temple playground and moves off along Pak She Street before working through the village and returning to the temple. The temple square is the single best position if you only watch one stretch: the bun towers stand there and you get the start and the finish. Pak She Street and the streets near the seafront put you at street level with the floats as they pass.
The bun scrambling
At midnight on the main day - late on Thursday 13 May, running into Friday 14 May - competitors race up a tower to collect as many buns as they can. It began as a mass scramble up the traditional bamboo bun towers; after one of those towers collapsed in 1978, injuring about 100 people, the race was banned and was not revived until 2005, when it returned as a controlled competition on a steel tower with 12 finalists.
The competition is held at the Pak Tai Temple playground under floodlights. Because it starts at midnight, the regular ferry timetable does not wait for it - if watching the scramble is the point of your trip, plan to sleep on the island that night.
Day trip or overnight stay?
- Day trip, for the parade. The Piu Sik parade runs from about 1:30pm to about 5pm, so you can watch it and still catch an evening ferry back to Central.
- Day trip, for the quiet days. Days 1-3 (the bun towers, the vegetarian food, the opera) make an easy day out without parade-day crowds.
- Overnight, for the scramble. The midnight start is the reason most people stay, and it spares you the post-parade queue for the return ferry.
On-island rooms go early around the main day, so book well ahead - see our Cheung Chau accommodation guide.
Ferries and crowds on the main day
Sun Ferry runs the route from Central Pier 5 to Cheung Chau; the fast ferry takes about 35 minutes. Adult fares are:
| Ferry | Mon-Sat | Sun & public holidays |
| Ordinary | HK$16.70 | HK$24.80 |
| Deluxe | HK$26.10 | HK$38.00 |
| Fast | HK$32.90 | HK$47.60 |
Because the 2027 main day is a public holiday, the higher Sunday-and-holiday fares apply on Thursday 13 May. Timetables, last sailings and any extra festival services are on our Cheung Chau ferry guide.
The pier is the choke point at both ends of the day. The 2026 parade day drew around 18,000 visitors and the whole 2025 festival around 40,000, so treat parade-day sailings as a crush: travel out early in the morning, and expect the longest queues for the return sailings in the late afternoon once the parade ends.
The vegetarian period
For about three days the whole island goes vegetarian - from the first day of the festival until the parade passes on the main day. The traditional restaurants serve no meat or fish, and even the island's fast-food chains put out special vegetarian menus during the period. The restrictions lift once the parade has passed, when the seafront seafood kitchens reopen.
For what to eat during the vegetarian days, see our Cheung Chau vegetarian food guide and the 2027 food guide; for the seafood side of the island, see Cheung Chau food.
If you miss the main days
Days 1-3 (Monday 10 to Wednesday 12 May) are not a consolation prize. The bun towers are already up at Pak Tai Temple, the island is vegetarian, and you get the paper gods and the towers on Days 1-2 and the dragon dances and opera on Day 3 - without the main-day crowds. Day 5 (Friday 14 May) is quieter again, for the return of the temple statues and the distribution of the lucky buns.
If May does not work at all, the festival is tied to the lunar calendar and always lands in spring, usually in May. Outside festival week the island's regular draws are unchanged and far less crowded: the beach at Tung Wan, the Mini Great Wall walk, and bike hire for the cycling routes.
For the full background on the festival, its history and our parade photo gallery, see the Bun Festival hub.
Frequently Asked Questions - Cheung Chau Bun Festival 2027
Do you need tickets for the festival?
Not for the parade, and not for the bun towers. The Piu Sik parade is a street procession through the village, and it is watched for free from the roadside - no ticket is required. The one part of the festival that is ticketed is the bun-scrambling final, which is watched from four spectator zones on the Pak Tai Temple Playground football pitch. In 2026 those were free admission tickets - 1,650 of them, handed out from 10pm on the main day on a first-come, first-served basis, one ticket per person, queueing along Pak She First Lane next to the Cheung Chau Fire Station, with ticket holders admitted from 10:30pm. The 2027 ticket arrangement has not been published yet; it will appear on the LCSD Bun Carnival page nearer the date.
Can a visitor enter the bun scrambling, or only watch it?
Both, but entering is a spring-long process rather than a spur-of-the-moment decision. Entry is open to adults aged 18 or over who are in good health and physical condition, and it is free. Places are not sold on the night: in 2026 the field was capped at 200 and allocated by e-ballot through the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's SmartPLAY system, with priority for applicants who live, work or study on Cheung Chau. Selected entrants then had to complete a safety-training session and the selection contest in April, which cut the field to 12 finalists (at least three of them women). Everyone else watches from the spectator zones. The 2027 process will be announced on the LCSD Bun Carnival page in the spring.
How do you get back to Central after the midnight bun scrambling?
Not on the regular timetable - the final runs past midnight, and the ordinary ferries have stopped by the time it ends. For the 2026 final the Transport Department laid on special services for the crowd leaving the island: a special ferry from Cheung Chau to Central at 1:15am, and overnight bus route 104R from Central Pier 5 to Mong Kok between about 1:10am and 2:30am. If you would rather not depend on late-night specials, the safe plan is to book an island stay for the main night. The 2027 transport arrangements will be confirmed nearer the date.
What do first-timers get wrong about the festival?
The weather, mostly. The festival falls in May, which the Hong Kong Observatory's climate record describes as hot and humid: May afternoon temperatures often exceed 31°C, night temperatures sit around 26°C with high humidity, and showers are common. The main day is spent outdoors - the parade through the afternoon, then standing to hold a spot for the midnight scramble - so pack for heat and humidity rather than for spring. Take cash as well: not every island stall or vendor accepts cards or e-payments.