Explosive float parade to light up Putrajaya’s floral festival

photo: MOTAC facebook

PUTRAJAYA: There will be an explosion of colours and flowers when the annual floral boat parade makes a comeback next week.

Popularly known as the “Magic of the Night”, 14 flotillas decked in colourful flowers and lights will cruise through a 3km stretch of the Putrajaya Lake from June 22. The boats will sail along the lake until June 30 from 8.30pm to 9.30pm before the anchor is dropped for a static display until 11.30pm every night.

One million visitors are expected to throng the nine-day event, said Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz. The event is organised in conjunction with the “Putrajaya Floria” flora festival, which takes place in the day during the same period.

“There will be a five-minute fireworks display every night at the end of the cruise parade but on the first night, there will be an additional 45-second display of fireworks,” Mohamed Nazri said in a press conference here yesterday.

He said the event would help promote Malaysia as a unique tourism destination and to fulfil tourists' demand for a value-for-money experience. The float parade is also among the ministry's tool to promote Visit Malaysia Year 2014.

Mohamed Nazri said tourist arrivals in the country recorded a 15.9% growth in the first quarter of this year. “We have received 6.4 million tourists as compared to 5.5 million tourists in the same period last year. “Tourist receipts for 2012 also grew by 16.7%, generating RM14.99bil to the country's revenue as compared to RM12.84bil in 2011,” he said.

Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab attributed the increase in tourist arrivals this year to an increase in affordable flights and promotional activities. “There were also many long weekends in the first quarter of the year, which encouraged people to travel. “Tourism traffic also increased thanks to the opening of new attractions, such as Legoland,” Mirza said.
-thestar online.