top of page

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.

ADVERTISEMENTS

Backyard Discovery Buckley Hill

Backyard Discovery Buckley Hill

Cedar Wood Swing Set with Wave Slide, Play Deck

Discovery Sweetwater

Discovery Sweetwater

All Cedar Wooden Playhouse

facts.png
FACTS YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN
Why Movie Theaters Started Selling Popcorn
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Why Movie Theaters Started Selling Popcorn

Why Icelandic Kids Go"Puffling Hunting" Each Fall
SCIENCE & NATURE

Why Icelandic Kids Go"Puffling Hunting" Each Fall

The Most Televised Face in History
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Most Televised Face in History

The Fish That Fed Empires
HISTORY & INNOVATIONS

The Fish That Fed Empires

Why the Middle Finger Is Such an Old Insult
HISTORY & INNOVATIONS

Why the Middle Finger Is Such an Old Insult

Homes That Outsmarted the Tax Collector
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Homes That Outsmarted the Tax Collector

ADVERTISEMENT

popular.png
POPULAR NOW
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Famous Descendants of the Mayflower

Photograph of Henry David Thoreau
HISTORY & INNOVATIONS

Thoreau Lived at Walden, But His Mother Still Did the Laundry

Photograph of John Houseman
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Man Behind Robin Williams, Orson Welles and an Oscar

Image of DNA
SCIENCE & NATURE

Some Cells in Your Body May Come From Another Person

Photograph of a young woman drinking water
SCIENCE & NATURE

Your Water is Billions of Years Older Than You Think

Image of a figure walking into a room with a table with flowers and a door in the distance
SCIENCE & NATURE

Why You Forget Why You Walked Into A Room

ADVERTISEMENT

bottom of page