Mountain tribes in northern Thailand celebrate their freedom with a wacky swing festival on Sunday (September 8).<br /><br />The Akha people were once native to China before being conquered by rival factions and forced to flee to Burma in therapy 1900s.<br /><br />The group - which has more than 40,000 living in the region - now celebrate their freedom once a year with a colourful swinging and dance festival.<br /><br />Footage from the Akha Swing Festival shows villagers soaring into the sky on a rope swing suspended from 30ft high bamboo poles.<br /><br />Women in hand-woven costumes and brightly decorated hats are pulled on the rope.<br /><br />The symbolic act celebrates throwing off the bonds of constraint and is also the tribe's new year celebrations, in line with the peak of the rainy season.<br /><br />''When you don’t have your country any more, you still can feel free while swinging in the air,'' plays their Akha New Year song.<br /><br />Hundreds of tourists now visit the remote region, sometimes only accessible by motorcycle to watch the spectacle.<br /><br />The unique festival is one of the most recognizable in Thailand, with five other tribes which wear different costumes joining in with the event.
