PESTA Pulau Pinang this year is adding ‘love’ to its various attractions.
Celebrating its 51st anniversary, the fair is set to introduce new attractions and competitions to entertain and enthral visitors.
Its senior manager Ahmad Shukri Jamaluddin said this year, the lighting was improved with more colours and there will be games to celebrate the love for Penang.
“Last year was the most successful year for the fair, and we will maintain a few of the concepts while making the affair brighter and introducing the Pesta Love Park,” he said.
Pesta Pulau Pinang at Sungai Nibong opens from today until Dec 31, 6pm to midnight daily.
The admission fee is RM5 for adults and RM1 for children aged six to 12.
Ahmad Shukri said Pesta Pulau Pinang is collaborating with Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to introduce the Penang Ride N’ Park, a traffic playground of educational programmes to teach children and adults about road safety and traffic rules.
“The playground will feature realistic traffic simulations, with road names and props modelling places in Penang.
“Children will be given tasks to complete to earn points and redeem rewards,” he said yesterday.
He said the fair would maintain its tunnel of lights but it would be shorter and dubbed the ‘Love Tunnel’ as it would feature pink tulip lights.
“Young visitors will also enjoy the Pesta Animal Kingdom from last year, which features replicas of wild animals that will be lighted up at night at the Taman Mini.
Ahmad Shukri said the fair’s latest competition, ‘Pesta Got Talent’, will let locals showcase their hidden talents.
Another entertainment event is the state- level Boria Festival 2017.
He said this year there would also be a Chinese exhibition with over 30 booths.
“We will still have our annual ‘Battle of the Bands’, ‘Chinese Youth Karaoke Singing’ and ‘Chinese Veteran Karaoke Singing’ competitions.”
Ahmad Shukri said the fair, organised by the state Finance Department, would again have its Euro Fun Park of 35 theme park rides and games and 20 performances by local acts throughout the 37 days.
“This year, there will be a special acrobatics performance by a group from Beijing.
“A total of 161 traders will sell carpets, clothing, household products, decorative items, accessories and food at the fair.
“Last year, we had four food trucks and due to the good response, we are increasing it to eight this year,” he said, adding the fair recorded 642,815 visitors last year.
Ahmad Shukri said they did not expect to have the same crowd this year and expected 500,000.
“Taking into consideration the bad weather spells and that the fair is located on low ground, we have prepared an extra water pump to be used when necessary.
He urged visitors to use ride-hailing services to avoid the traffic jams.