HONG KONG >> Crowds flocked to the outlying Cheung Chau Island in Hong Kong to celebrate the Bun Festival, held each year in a century-old tradition to ward off evil and pray for peace and blessings.

The festivities began with a parade of children in costumes, called “Piu Sik,” which translates as “floating color.” Children dressed as legendary deities or historic characters are carried on stands above the gathered crowds, meandering through the island’s narrow lanes.

The highlight of the festival comes at midnight with a “bun-scrambling” competition, where climbers race up a tower covered with plastic buns. Whoever gets the most buns of greatest value wins the race.

— The Associated Press