George Town Heritage Day Festival 2017 (7-9 July)

This year’s Heritage Day celebration and festival are being held from 7th to 9th July at the heart of the heritage zone in George Town, such as the areas around Armenian Street, Kampung Kolam and Ah Quee Street. The theme for this year’s festival is “Walk the Talk: Oral Traditions and Expressions”, which showcases the local communities’ culture and language/dialect such as Indian Muslim, Teochew, Malayalam and Telugu. There will be cultural shows, interactive activities and performances along with history-guided trails on the origins of the heritage streets in George Town.

The 3 days festival starts in the evening till the nights.

Penang CNY: The Jade Emperor Birthday (Weld Quay)

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Today marks the birthday of the Jade Emperor deity.

During the Chinese New Year’s 15-days period in Penang, the celebration for the birthday of the Jade Emperor will fall on the 9th lunar day of Chinese New Year. This day is particularly celebrated a lot by the Hokkien community in Penang and is also commonly referred to as the Hokkien New Year. There will be lots of prayers, food offerings and various festivities held for the Jade Emperor on this day. Two popular areas in Penang where this day is celebrated are the Jade Emperor Pavilion temple at Ayer Itam and the Clan Jetties area at Weld Quay, George Town.

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Penang Heritage Celebrations 2015

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The Penang Heritage Celebrations for this year will be held from 4th to 7th July in George Town city. It is an annual event celebrated to mark the anniversary of the city’s recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The event this year will start off with a food festival in several streets within George Town.

Prayers for the Jade Emperor

Jade Emperor Prayers

The Chinese Hokkien community would be celebrating the birthday of the Jade Emperor, or Thnee Kong Seh, today at 12am — the ninth day of the Chinese lunar calendar. As the clock strikes 12 midnight, the celebration would be kicking off with prayers often accompanied by the sound of firecrackers and offerings to the Jade Emperor. For the local Hokkiens here, this day is in fact celebrated even more extravagantly than the first day of Chinese New Year and is also known as the Hokkien New Year.

A Scene at Thaipusam Festival

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Today marks the day of the Thaipusam festival, celebrated by Hindu devotees in the country.

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community annually. Outside India, Malaysia is the only country which widely observes this festival. In Malaysia, it was popularly celebrated by many Hindu devotees either at the Batu Caves in Selangor or the Waterfall Temple in Penang. Carrying the ‘kavadi’ or pulling chariots via ropes pierced on the bodies of devotees are common sights during the festival.

George Town Festival 2013 Taking Off

The opening ceremony of George Town Festival 2013 at Esplanade with a showcase of kites flying. Held annually to celebrate the UNESCO World Heritage status of the city, George Town Festival 2013 is a month long festival of arts, music and various cultural performance. For more info, please visit http://georgetownfestival.com/.

Penang Isle: A Chinese Procession

The ‘Tua Pek Kong” grand float procession was held by the management of Poh Hock Seah in 2010, the last of such event was held back in 1998. The procession was held once every 12 years (during the Tiger year of the Chinese zodiac).

Tua Pek Kong is one of the pantheon of Malaysian Chinese Gods. It was believed that Tua Pek Kong arrived in Penang 40 years before Francis Light’s arrival.