Extra parking bays for kite fest visitors

Raven (second from right) and Rahim (third from right) observing the kite-making process during the pre-launch of the Pasir Gudang World Kite Festival. — THOMAS YONG/The Star

THOSE keen to enjoy the Pasir Gudang World Kite Festival at Bukit Layang-Layang, Johor, should have no problems finding parking space.

Malaysian Kite Fliers Council president Datuk A. Rahim Nin said that apart from the parking facility at Bukit Layang-Layang, visitors could park at the Pasir Gudang Indoor Stadium about 2km away.

“At the stadium, there will be three free shuttle buses to ferry visitors to Bukit Layang-Layang.

“Previously, visitors could only park at Bukit Layang-Layang but this year, with the collaboration of Pasir Gudang City Council (MBPG), we have allocated hundreds of parking bays at the stadium as well,” he said.

He was speaking at a press conference after the pre-launch of the festival at Kompleks Pusat Bandar Pasir Gudang.

Meanwhile, Pasir Gudang mayor Datuk Asman Shah Abd Rahman said the parking spaces at the two locations could accommodate over 1,000 cars at any one time.

“We decided to provide the extra space this year because we noticed that in the past, visitors to the kite festival would park their cars on the roadside and this resulted in traffic congestion.

“We encourage the public to make use of the free shuttle buses and park their cars in the designated areas,” he said.

The free bus service will be available daily between 8am and 10pm during the festival to be held from Feb 22 to 26.

Johor tourism, environment, heritage and culture committee chairman K. Raven Kumar said the festival was expected to attract some 350,000 local and international visitors this year.

“Some 110 foreign participants from 40 countries and at least 500 locals have signed up for the five-day event.

“A total of 25 international participants will also attempt to enter the Malaysia Book of Records by flying 25 wau (traditional Malaysian kites) at the same time.

“The participants will don traditional costumes of the various races and ethnicities in Malaysia as they attempt to set the record,” he added.

Raven noted that the last time the festival was held on a global level was in 2019.

“Last year, we had to scale down the festival and turn it into a national-level event due to border restrictions. We were also unable to organise the festival in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19,” he said.