Chiayi City holds annual high swing festival

Taipei, March 30 (CNA) A traditional high swing festival with a history dating back more than 200 years was held in front of a Taoist temple in southern Taiwan's Chiayi City on Sunday.

The festival, which invites participants to take a ride one or two at a time on a 12-meter bamboo-frame swing, is believed to have originated in China's Fujian Province during the Jiaqing Period (1796-1820) of the Qing Dynasty.

The ritual was later brought to Taiwan by settlers in the Chiayi area.

According to legend, the swing was built by locals in Chiayi as part of a ceremony to ask for blessings and an end to outbreaks of the plague from Xuanwu, one of the higher-ranking deities in Taoism.

The festival, held at Wudang Xuantiang Temple in Chiayi's Guanglu Village, was conducted every leap year until 2008, when it became an annual event.

It was also registered as a form of intangible cultural heritage by the Chiayi City government that same year.

Chiayi City Mayor Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) said women had "enthusiastically" taken part in the swing competition this year -- only the second time since participation was opened to women in 2024.

According to the Chiayi City government, the 12-meter bamboo-frame swing used in the festival is constructed using a traditional method of bundling vines, without the use of nails or screws.

The seat of the swing (on which participants stand) is set 2 meters above the ground, and as it swings it can reach heights of up to 10 meters, the city government said in a statement.