The Penang Chinese New Year Celebration made its grand debut in the George Town Heritage Area last night, attracting 200,000 visitors. There were so many people in the temple fair area that people had to move sideways and slowly on most streets. The whole place was filled with excitement!
This cultural event held during the Lunar New Year welcomes more than 10,000 visitors every year, and the “2024 Penang Chinese New Year Celebration” is no exception. The Penang Chinese New Year Celebration enters its 25th Silver Jubilee this year, with the theme “Our Story”.
The Penang Chinese New Year Celebration, held from 4 pm to 11 pm on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, covers more than 20 ancestral halls, guild halls, and temples with centuries of history in 12 streets in the historical area. It has 11 themed stages and is already crowded before nightfall, with cultural and food stalls and stages attracting visitors to stop.
The conference was opened by Penang Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tun Ahmad Fuzi, Penang Yang di-Pertuan Agong Queen Tupan Khadija, and Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow. In his speech, Cao Guan You said that Penang Chinese New Year Celebration have always strived to inherit and promote diverse cultures. In recent years, cultural units from other ethnic groups have participated, making the temple fairs more colorful.
He said that the Penang Chinese New Year Celebration celebrated its 25th anniversary thanks to the joint efforts of all walks of life in Penang. The event covers about 20 ancestral temples, temples and guild halls with a history of over a hundred years in the George Town Heritage Area, aiming to encourage young people to understand and cherish these cultural heritage and spiritual values.
“With the development of social media, folk creativity has become easier for the world to see. In recent years, many folk-created New Year songs have appeared in our country, and the quantity and quality have continued to improve. Temple fairs also have their own New Year songs, which have become part of cultural heritage.”
He said that the temple fair is full of surprises every year. This year is the historic moment when Penang Head of State Tun Ahmad Fuzi came to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Penang Chinese New Year Celebration.
However, he believes that the Chinese New Year Celebration is getting better every year, which means that the challenges for the organizers are getting more difficult every year. He believed that with the Penang people’s spirit of “hard work leads to victory”, the Chinese New Year Celebration would be able to overcome the challenges. He hopes that the Chinese New Year Celebration can make everyone feel the charm of Penang culture, and looks forward to next year’s temple fair continuing to bring surprises.
Also present were Datuk Liang Jing Hui, chairman of the Joint Committee of Ancestral Ancestral Halls of various surnames in Penang, Penang State Executive Councilor Huang Han Wei, and Chinese Consul General in Penang Zhou You Bin.
