Firing up excitement: Crowds watch on in awe as The Crafty Circus puts on a thrilling fire dance act at the recent Macam Macam Berapit pre-festival event. — Photo courtesy of George Town Festival
GEORGE TOWN: Penang’s George Town Festival (GTF) is returning with a spectacular celebration of art, culture and heritage for all.
There will be many premiering productions, indigenous-ethnic cultural performances, digital installations, book and game launches, and community-based events to look forward to from July 15 to 30.
They will feature Malaysian and international artistes and cover traditional to contemporary, experimental, and multi-disciplinary genres.
A series of arts masterclasses, workshops and forums completes the line-up of more than 50 programmes, 70% of which are free.
These will be held at more than 20 locations in George Town and on the mainland.
Locals got a taste of it with a pre-festival community event – Macam Macam Berapit – held at the Berapit Public Market outside Bukit Mertajam last Saturday.
Attendees were treated to performances like a rousing drum circle by 1Drum and thrilling fire dancing acts by The Crafty Circus.
A traditional wayang kulit theatre by Wak Long Music and Art Centre fascinated many, as did homegrown traditional-contemporary band Culture Shot’s lively set. Cahaya XR’s “A Small World After All” also brought imaginative worlds created by local children to life via interactive virtual, augmented and mixed-reality storytelling.
In celebration of the 15th anniversary of George Town’s Unesco World Heritage listing, there will be a 5km Discovery Walk at 7am tomorrow.
On Saturday, there are two more pre-festival events – “The Sounds from the East” live concert featuring fusion ensembles from Sabah and Sarawak at Design Village in Batu Kawan at 7pm, and “Panggung Semar: Geliga Embun” which blends Mak Yong, Wayang Kulit and Dikir Barat at Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Dewan Budaya at 8.45pm.
The festival opens on July 15, with “Bansan: Rasa-Rasa Pasar Experiential Programme” and “Open Gameplay” at Chowrasta Market from 9am onwards.
It is a board game inspired by the bustle and chaos of the Malaysian market.
Players assume the role of market vendors to deal with wholesalers and customers and manage waste. Whoever generates the highest profit wins the game.
Later that evening, explore imagination and creativity with “A Night at Hin” at Hin Bus Depot from 5pm and community-based music, song and dance extravaganza with “Macallum 360” at Taman Kejiranan Macallum from 6pm onwards.
“Three’s Company”, featuring Junji Delfino, WinnieHO and Kirana Kay also opens at Majestic Theatre at 8pm.
On July 16, one of the festival’s highlights – “The Senses” concert – will be held at The Habitat Penang Hill at 4pm.
This year’s line-up includes Frank Yamma and David Bridie from Australia, Sangpuy Katatepan of Taitung’s Pinyumayan community, and Meruked and Sada Borneo.
But before that, “The Bansan: Rasa-Rasa Pasar” happens at the Seberang Jaya Market at 9am.
This has another stop at the Air Itam Market on July 18, at 9am.
There are many other programmes to look forward to after that, including the fifth edition of “Isle to Isle” in collaboration with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia on July 22 and 23, “bhumiMATA” on July 28 and 29, and “The Monkey King Adventures: Love of Onibaba” on July 29 and 30.
This year’s festival, in its 14th edition, closes with “Light in the City” on July 30 along Beach Street. GTF is a project by George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI), organised by TLM Event, and endorsed by the Penang government. For details on programmes, visit https://georgetownfestival.com.
