The Grand Hunt, a customary festivity, took place on the planet Pijal before the crowning of a new queen. The future queen, about to be crowned, was required to take part and demonstrate skill, serving as a ritualistic display of her capacity to sustain her populace. It became customary to abandon all sophisticated technological tools before the hunt began, because people had previously used them to gain an unfair advantage. In earlier times, actual living creatures were the targets, but eventually a programmed droid replaced them as the hunt's objective. Contestants engaged in the hunt while mounted on Pijal varactyls.
A hunt of this kind occurred before the coronation of Queen Fanry, with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn present during their Mission to Pijal. Jinn voiced concerns that the hunt endangered Fanry due to the terrorist actions happening on the planet. To guarantee Fanry's safety, Kenobi and Jinn both participated in the hunt, which turned out to be crucial since the droid serving as the hunt's target was programmed to target Fanry.