Experience MALAYSIA May 2016

Looking forward for fun-filled and exciting festivals and events this month? Royal Floria Putrajaya is back to enchant you with breath-taking flower exhibitions.

Submerge yourself in the diverse and the richness of the Malaysian cultures at the Tadau Ka’amatan Celebrations and discover the archaeological revelation of the Sungai Batu Civilization at the Festival Kedah Tua.

If your passion is music, then don’t forget to have fun at the Urbanscapes 2016 and Borneo Jazz Festival. May is also the month to get your gear up and join the exciting Dragon Boat race and sports events.

Take a trip to Penang to enjoy the vibrant culture and heritage, and also the UNESCO World Heritage site attraction in George Town as Malaysia is to be the host country of the inaugural WTM Connect Asia this May.

To give you some ideas of what to do this month, here’s a line-up of well-balanced events for tourists, both local and foreign, to enjoy in Malaysia. Plan your trip well, or engage the services of a licensed tour operator/ travel agent.

Happy Holidays!

Corporate Communication Division
Tourism Malaysia

Langkawi International Laksa Carnival (LILAC) 2016

If you are visiting Langkawi in May, then do not miss out on this increasingly growing and popular food festival. At the Laksa festival, you will find Laksa dishes not only from various places of Malaysia, but also from Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Korea. Renowned Malaysian and international chefs will be participating in the carnival to demonstrate the cooking of Laksa.

There are also activities and entertainment such as musical performances, volleyball, painting competition for children, traditional games, and culinary competitions with prizes to be won. Visitors can also join the Laksa eating competition.

The carnival is a great melting pot of diversity and harmony of Malaysian as well as international cultures in which thousands of locals and tourists can participate.

Date: 27 to 29 May 2016
Venue: Laman Padi Langkawi
Organiser: Langkawi Development Authorit
Contact: +604 960 0600

Malaysia’s largest flower and garden festival 

Putrajaya FLORIA or Royal FLORIA Putrajaya 2016, returns again with this year’s theme, Magical World of FLORIA, featuring the theme flower,Chrysanthemum. There will be exciting exhibitions such as “The Magic of Bonsai & Suiseki “Musical Garden”, Terrarium “Tropical Magic in Glass” and with the latest technology from Europe; the Magical Gardens and indoor and outdoor garden exhibitions by floral designers and landscape architects from around the world.

Visitors can also join activities such as flower arrangement demonstrations, gardening workshops, entertainment shows, photography competitions, watercolour contests, and FLORIA Arts & Crafts which offer arts and craft products. There will be FLORIA Flavours, which offer authentic cuisine from the various states in Malaysia.

Date: 27 May to 4 June 2016
Venue: Anjung Floria, Precinct 4, Putrajaya 
Organiser: Perbadanan Putrajaya
Contact: +603 8893 1967609-7485534 / +609-7483543
Email: info@floriaputrajaya.com.my
Website: floriaputrajaya.com.my

History, archeology and tourism

Festival Kedah Tua (FKT) is an initiative by the Centre for Global Archaeological Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia (CGAR USM) to foster a better connection between archaeology and the general public. It is designed to give an in-depth as well as comprehensive understanding on early civilization of Kedah, especially in Sungai Batu archaeological site.

Various activities have been planned and will be held during the FKT. There will be a Kedah Tua International Conference, gathering 25 World Civilization experts to talk about Mesopotamia, Egypt and Indus Civilization. For those who are interested, the entrance fees are; RM150 (Students) and RM250 (Local)

The three-day event will include exhibitions of the site, traditional games competition, guided tours, hands-on excavation on-site and food stalls. Visitors are required to pay for the entrance fee; RM5 (Local), RM10 (International), RM1 (Students) and free for children under 7 years old.

Date: 20 to 23 May 2016
Venue: Sungai Petani, Malaysia
Organiser: Centre for Global Archaeological Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Contact: +6016 5053531
Email: catchmazlan@gmail.com

Celebrate creativity at Urbanscapes 2016

Urbanscapes is one of the longest-running creative arts festivals in Malaysia. This year, Urbanscapes 2016 will go back to where it all started, in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The festival will spread across three weekends (two and a half weeks) in various parts of the city, to take advantage of KL's glorious cityscape, and complement it with some creative shenanigans.

The activities will be held at Medan Pasar, Publika in Solaris Dutamas, Jalan Duta and KL Live in Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. The highlights in KL Live include Tame Impala, Hujan and Bittersweet, Rudimental and M83. Jin Hackman entertains at Publika while the old OCBC Bank in Medan Pasar will feature the art exhibition Cannot Be Bo(a)rded with works by Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian artists. It will also house a theatre production, The Vicious Cycle.

Date: 23 April to 8 May 2016
Venue: Kuala Lumpur
Organiser: Adrian Yap
Website: urbanscapes.com.my

Celebrating Thanksgiving, the Sabah way!

Experience the Tadau Ka'amatan festival for a month in May, where the Kadazandusun and Murut communities come together to offer thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest. Visitors and locals are invited to join in the merriment and be entertained by a variety of traditional and unique cultural dances which are performed at the venue. The inauguration of the event will be on May in Tenom and the Grand Finale will be at the Hongkod Koisaan (Unity Centre) KDCA from 30 to 31 May.

There are also traditional sports competition such as mamarampanau (walking on bamboo stilts), arm wrestling and many more. For craft lovers, there are a number of shops that are showcasing and selling traditional Kadazan craft. The Ka'amatan Festival is also a great opportunity to try out the traditional local food and drinks which include the fascinating lihing or tuak usually served in the traditional houses at the KDCA.

Date: 1 to 31 May 2016
Venue: Hongkod Koisaan (Unity Centre) KDCA,
Penampang, Sabah 
Organiser : Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association (KDCA)
Contact: +6088 713696/ +6088 715924
Website: kdca.org.my

World Harvest Festival

The World Harvest Festival (WHF) is an ethnic festival that is one of the highlights of the Gawai Dayak celebration, the largest in Sarawak. The 11^th year of Harvest Festival (Gawai) is celebrated on a grander scale with the participations of cultural troupes from other countries. The World Harvest Festival provides the opportunity for the non-Dayaks to understand the cultures, traditions and aspirations of the Dayak community.The highlight of the World Harvest Festival (WHF) is the theme play, which utilises the lake, ethnic houses and trees as natural props. Along with sampling of traditional food and crafts of the ethnic communities of Sarawak, there will also be a series of joint workshops by the local and invited cultural troupes.

An ethnic beauty pageant lends colour and vibrancy to the event whereas brawn comes in the form of the Ironman World Harvest Festival competition. The entrance fee per day is RM60 for adults and RM30 for children.

Date: 29 April to 1 May 2016
Venue: Sarawak Cultural Village, Kuching, Sarawak
Organiser: Sarawak Cultural Village
Contact: +6082 846108/846078
Website: whf.com.my
Email: enquiry@scv.com.my

Get jazzy in Miri

This year’s Borneo Jazz Festival will be held in Miri, at the Park City Everly Hotel and is supported by Miri as Sarawak’s Resort City. There will be two nights of four performances by eight local and international artists. Apart from the festival, there will be an outdoor bazaar where visitors can enjoy local food and handicraft.

Visitors going to this cosmopolitan city of Miri can visit the Lambir Hills or the historical Niah National Park located just an hour and two away respectively.For scuba divers, the dive sites in the Miri-Sibuti Coral Reefs National Park beckons.The nearest dive site is a mere 15 minutes’ drive away, just off the coast of the city.

Do not miss the magic of Borneo and what this exciting destination can offer as you groove to the music in this land where adventure lives. Selamat datai/ Welcome to our music room!

Date: 13 to 14 May 2016
Venue: Beach Arena, Park City Everly Hotel, Miri, Sarawak
Organiser: Sarawak Tourism Board
Contact: +60 82423600
Website: http://jazzborneo.com/

Penang Anime Matsuri 2016 (PAM16)

For the second year in the sunny Penang Island, the producer of Anime Festival Asia and PAM2015 presents an outdoor anisong party, and the summer party of Anime Matsuri. PAM16 will embrace the theme Magical Summer this year, returning with a stronger guest line-up. You can expect an exciting 2-day event with power-packed activities such as Akihabara Town, Creators Market, Merchandise Town, Night Doujin Market, cosplay celebrities, Japanese food, outdoor Anisong concert, workshops, meet-and-greet sessions and anime screenings. Also, take this opportunity to showcase your beautiful yukata.

Date: 21 to 22 May 2016
Venue: Penang Esplanade, Dewan Sri
Pinang
Organiser: SOZO 
Website: pamsummer.asia

Oceansation Festival 2016

Transforming public perception on outdoor festivals, Oceansation is on a mission to create a life-changing experience by adapting elements that resonate with the younger generation. The event will be packed with a variety of games and activities ranging from morning yoga sessions, splashing good times in the water with Malaysia’s first Human Launcher, Iceberg, Slip N’ Slide, and Slackline, to sports activities such as jungle trekking, snorkelling, fishing, beach soccer, volleyball and traditional games. This year’s festival will also include creative arts installations, performing arts from dikir barat to wayang kulit, sand sculptures, stomping and more.

Oceansation offers their own boat transfers from the mainland to Perhentian Island. For land transportation from the main city of Kuala Lumpur to Perhentian Jetty, Oceansation offers round- trips express buses which can be purchased along with the festival ticket.

Date: 30 April to 2 May 2016
Venue: Teluk Keke, Perhentian Island, Terengganu
Organiser: The Nomad Nation
Contact: +8012 249 4483/ +8012 328 7870
Email: holla@thenomadnation.com
Website: www.oceansationfestival.com

Riding dragons in Penang and Sabah 

Do you want to be a part of the world’s fastest growing water sport? Want to get fit and have fun? Come and try dragon boating!

Dragon boating is an ancient sport from China where a team consists of 20 paddlers, work in unison to propel the boat forwards from a standing start to reach the finish line in the fastest time.

Or you can just come and enjoy the race, and watch the local and international teams beat their drums and synchronize their paddling, while racing for the finish line.

The distinctive features of a dragon boat are a brightly coloured dragon head attached to the front of the boat, where a drummer hits a driving beat on the drum, dragon scales running along the sides of the boat and a tail peeking out of the water.

Get ready to experience the exciting and exhilarating cultural dragon boat races this month at two locations: the 37^th Penang International Dragon Boat Festival at the scenic Teluk Bahang Dam and the 3^rd Sabah FCAS International Boat Race 2016 at Likas Bay, Sabah.

Date: 21 to 22 May 2016
Venue: Likas Bay, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah 
Organiser: The Federation of Chinese Associations, Sabah
Contact: +6088 253433
Email: fcasinfo@gmail.com
Website: sabahdragonboat.com

Date: 28 to 29 May 2016
Venue: Teluk Bahang Dam
Organiser: Penang State Tourism & PIDBF Committee
Contact: +6016 411 0000

SBK Superbike (FIM World Championship)

Superbike World Championship (also known as SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK), the worldwide Superbike racing Championship will be held this month. Round 6 – Pirelli Malaysian Round of the Superbikes FIM World Championship will take place at Sepang International Circuit from 13 to 15 May.

Motorsports fans are advised to grab their tickets for the upcoming 2016 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WSBK) Malaysian Round to catch their favourite heroes in action.

Date: 13 to 15 May 2016
Venue: Sepang International Circuit, Sepang, Selangor
Organiser: Sepang International Circuit
Contact: +60 3-8778 2200
Website: www.sepangcircuit.com

Kuantan Century Ride (Kuantan 160) 2016

Attention to all avid cyclists around, the Kuantan160 Century Ride is back! KUANTAN160 is an open road cycling event covering 160km around the city of Kuantan in the East Coast of Malaysia.

The inaugural event was held in March 2012 organized by a group of cycling enthusiasts from Kuantan. Later the Ministry of Tourism & Culture (the Ministry of Tourism) Pahang made Kuantan160 its official event, fully supported by the Pahang State Government.

The Kuantan Century Ride takes participants on a journey enriched with culture and architecture of Kuantan. However, expect the hot weather and elevations to give you a real challenge. Whether you want to ride with a couple of friends or get a real work-out, this event invites you to challenge yourself and take a shot at surviving the 160 km bike ride.

Date: 29 May 2016
Venue: Kuantan, Pahang
Organiser: Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Pahang Office
Contact: +609 517 1111

A Towering Challenge

KL Tower International Towerthon Challenge is a signature sports event for Menara Kuala Lumpur for the past 15 years. This staircase run has gained much popularity amongst local and international sports enthusiasts, young and old, to take up the challenge of a 1 km run uphill before conquering the 2,058 steps and reaching the top level of Menara KL at 283 meters above ground level.

Participants can register online or manually and are required to pay for the entrance fee. Finishers will receive medals and certificates. Registration will be closed on 5^th May. If you are interested, register now!

Date: 1 May 2016
Venue: KL Tower, Kuala Lumpur
Organiser: KL Tower International Towerthon Challenge 2016
Contact: +603 2020 5444
Website: www.menarakl.com.my

Borneo International Marathon

The first marathon in Sabah was held in 1984 and it was called the Daily Express Sabah Marathon. The next marathon was held 23 years later in 2008 and it was called the Borneo International Marathon (BIM).

The Borneo International Marathon route was designed to feature Kota Kinabalu city’s beautiful architecture and scenery.

It also highlights the beautiful coastline overlooking the South China Sea and runners can catch a glimpse of the iconic Mt Kinabalu in the background and sun rising behind it.

Date: 1 May 2016
Venue: Along coastal roads of Kota Kinabalu 
Organiser: Champioship Sports Event Sdn Bhd
Contact: +6088 218833
Website: borneomarathon.com

Malaysia Hosts Inaugural WTM Connect Asia

Malaysia is proud to be the host country of the inaugural WTM Connect Asia this May 2016 in George Town, Penang. The event is expected to offer a unique one-to-one format targeted at the booming Asian leisure travel market, allowing exhibitors to exclusively meet with elite international hosted buyers.

Director General of Tourism Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Mirza Mohammad Taiyab says, “The WTM brand is well-established for being among the leading tourism trade exhibitions in countries such as United Kingdom, Africa and Latin America. Naturally, we are excited that Malaysia has been chosen to host the inaugural edition of WTM Connect Asia.

“As host-country, we welcome all buyers and sellers of WTM Connect Asia to Malaysia. Malaysia is a multi-cultural and diverse destination that offers the perfect combination of business and leisure experience to all visitors.

“Penang’s vibrant culture and heritage, delicious food, beaches, unique architecture and UNESCO World Heritage site attraction in the capital city of George Town will showcase the Malaysia Truly Asia brand perfectly and will certainly be a charming and wonderful introduction to the rest of Malaysia for the delegates of WTM Connect Asia.”

WTM Connect Asia will take place at the Eastern Oriental Hotel, Penang, from 18 to 20 May 2016. It is organised by Reed Exhibitions and supported by Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau, Tourism Malaysia and State Tourism of Penang.

Date: 18 to 20 May 2016
Venue: Eastern Oriental Hotel, Penang
Website: wtmconnectasia.com

All information is correct at time of publication. 

Visitors are advised to contact the event organiser for the latest updates.

-Tourism Malaysia.