Political elements will fade from this year's Piu Sik parade as the Cheung Chau Bun Festival returns to the island after three years of the pandemic.

In past parades, some children would dress up as political figures in the traditional parade, but organizers said political messages will only be a small part of the parade this year due to the national security law.

The Cheung Chau Bun Festival, or the Jiao Festival, will be held next Friday - Buddha's Birthday - while the Piu Sik parade will take place from 2 pm to 4 pm on that day.

During a rehearsal session of the Piu Sik parade yesterday, Yung Chi-ming, the festival committee chairman, said there would be 19 cars in the parade and he expected to see 70,000 tourists visiting Cheung Chau.

The 19 cars will carry the children.

One of the organizers, Cheung Chau Wei Hoi Luk Clansmen Association, said it would be in charge of two of the cars. The designs have two themes.

One will have children dressing as firemen and ambulancemen, in appreciation of the hard work of the Hong Kong rescue team that helped out in the aftermath of the Turkey earthquake in February.

Another will see children dressed as Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po and Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen. Designer Wong Shing-chau said the idea came after the tariff and fare increases recently.

But Wong said political elements would be a small part of the parade as people's creativity was limited under the national security law.

"We won't know when we will step on the red line, so better be careful," he said.

Another organizer, Chung Hing Street Kai Fong Committee, said one of its costumes designs will be on the district council election reform.

Wong Kwok-ming, chairman of the committee, hoped to raise public awareness of the reform and believed the costumes would not be too sensitive.

"We are not against the government, and we are only reflecting the reality," Leung said.

Another iconic event, the bun snatching race, be at midnight on May 27.

A test race was scheduled yesterday - where people could have registered to try climbing the 14-meter "bun tower" - but it was canceled due to the rainy weather.

Set to sell well will be the "Ping On buns," a perennial favorite at the festival, with the traditional white, steamed rice-flour buns containing sweet fillings and bearing a round red stamp with the Chinese character "ping on," meaning safety.

A bakery on the island selling Ping On buns said that it would prepare 10,000 of the sweet buns next Friday, and expected a 20 percent growth in business compared with last year.

Bun fun avoids political touch