Check Out This Ferris Wheel Powered By Humans

There are many wonders in the world, and there are also some fairly simple machines that end up being incredibly useful and/or extremely fun. Carnival rides have been around for ages. A famous ferris wheel impressed critics and created a memorable fixture in Chicago’s World’s Fair skyline back in 1893. We may take electric carnival rides like these for granted, now, but elsewhere in the world, people are still putting together more rudimentary carnival rides. In the video above, a bunch of dudes are working a ferris wheel that is propelled by humans.

The video is pretty crazy. It takes a slew of men to keep the ride going. Additionally, in order to speed things up, a few of the men even hop off of the platform and hold on to a rung of the ferris wheel as it is on a downward trend. The guys climbing are pretty in shape and the ferris wheel doesn’t seem all that tall, but it’s still a little scary to see the unfazed dudes just jump off of the platform like it ain’t no thing. Since a crowd of spectators has gathered, I’m guessing this isn’t particularly normal, either.

The whole thing seems a little unsafe, but it actually seems safer than some of the other viral video shenanigans we’ve seen at Pop Blend, including the dad who strapped his son’s wheelchair to a bike. Additionally, it's probably even safer than the time the Windseeker broke down at Knot’s Berry Farm, stranding customers high in the air for hours. I’m still not going to suggest putting together a personal hand-cranked ferris wheel, however.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.