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Kiiking: Estonia's Extreme Swinging Sport

Photo of boy on a swing in the mountains

For many cultures, swinging is more than a childhood pastime. In Estonia, swings have been part of village festivals for centuries, especially during midsummer celebrations. Large wooden swings were built for communities, and people gathered to swing as a symbol of joy, freedom, and togetherness.


Swinging traditions also appear around the world. In Nepal, giant bamboo swings are set up during the Dashain festival. In parts of China, swinging was once connected with courtship rituals. What started as simple fun often carried deeper meaning, from celebrating the harvest to bringing communities closer together.


In Estonia, this centuries-old tradition even inspired a modern extreme sport: kiiking, where athletes attempt full 360-degree rotations on towering steel swings.

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