An estimated 15,000 people flocked to a tiny Hong Kong island Sunday for the resumption of a two-centuries old bun-scrambling festival banned 27 years ago. Celebrants queued for up to two-hours in soaring tropical heat for ferries to Cheung Chau island where last-minute preparations were underway for the return of the ancient midnight custom. Traditionally, the day of festivities that includes a parade of fancifully dressed children held aloft on poles ends with guests climbing 20-metre bamboo towers to retrieve “lucky” buns dotted up their length.

However, the event was banned in 1978 after more than 100 people were injured when one of the towers collapsed. In the interim, only the parade was held. Authorities bowed to pressure from traditionalists to bring the festival back this year, but they are taking no chances and will allow only trained rock-climbers to scale a specially reinforced steel tower. The festival dates back more than 200 years and legend has it that the buns bring good luck to the island’s fishermen, protecting them from the spirits of pirates that once lurked in the region. Arguably, the event’s prestige has grown in its absence as a result of activists characterisation of the ban as an assault on traditional Chinese values. Although the ferry operator said ridership to the island was lower Sunday than during last year’s event, the streets of tiny Cheung Chau were busier than ever.