Annual events in Malaysia
Malaysia is home to a plethora of ethnicities. Naturally, culturally important festivals are bound to dot our calendar each year, such as the Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, and Deepavali.
Significant festivals aside, we’re also a nation of cultures colliding in a vibrant explosion of food, art, music, and tradition that are celebrated at events held annually.
Whether it’s a massive gathering of bookworms gushing about their favourite reads, or a film festival that’s the talk of the town for weeks, head to these 10 annual events in Malaysia to immerse yourself in the local scene.
Table of Contents
1. George Town Festival
A community-driven festival that spotlights the local art scene
Image credit: @journal.georgetown via Instagram
The island of Penang houses an eclectic range of independent cafes, art galleries, and cultural events. It’s a hub of creativity, always abuzz with artistic activities.
All of these are encapsulated in the annual George Town Festival, in which locals create, collaborate, connect, and celebrate the expressions and distinct colour of Penang through a variety of activities.
Image adapted by: @georgetownfestival via Instagram & @curiocity.pg via Instagram
The community-driven festival was inaugurated in 2010 and has since become something of an arts extravaganza when it’s held annually in July. Local and international artists converge in Penang to represent various fields of arts, as well as take part in featured programmes.
The two-week festival includes a medley of music and theatre shows, heritage exhibitions, workshops, screenings, and photography events. These are held throughout the capital, in commercial and public spaces like Hin Bus Depot, Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park, and China House.
George Town Festival website
2. Bon Odori Festival
A grand celebration of all things Japanese in Malaysia
Like the arrival of the mid-year summer heat, the Bon Odori Festival occurs like clockwork every year around August as a grand celebration of all things Japanese.
The event started out as a intimate celebration in 1977. Japanese expatriates in Malaysia held them so the younger generation could learn more about Japanese culture and connect with their roots even away from their homeland.
Over the years, it has burgeoned into a massive jubilant affair, attracting tens of thousands of revellers every year.
The Bon Odori Festival is celebrated throughout the country, on a small and large scale. One of the biggest celebrations is organised by the Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur, Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur, and Embassy of Japan, which is typically held at Kompleks Sukan Negara Shah Alam and attracts over 30,000 participants each year.
Image credit: The Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur
Visitors can expect a medley of food and fun at the event, including a bevy of pop-up stalls offering Japanese eats and souvenirs, as well as the programme highlight: the Bon Odori dance.
Many event-goers of all races will don Japanese traditional kimonos and yukatas to stroll, dance, and sing along together on the vivacious summer evening.
3. Penang International Food Festival
A month-long celebration of local food across Penang
Image credit: @penanginternationalfoodfest via Instagram
It is a widely accepted fact that Penang is one of the world’s best when it comes to food, largely their hawker street food scene. There’s no better way to explore the island’s tantalising array of culinary offerings than with a visit to the annual Penang International Food Festival (PIFF).
The major food festival usually takes place for a month in June, at several hotspots across the island and mainland. Different weekends will feature various themed food festivals, so you can look forward to exploring Penang’s food offerings and local sites too.
Image adapted from: @penanginternationalfoodfest via Instagram
The culinary extravaganza brings together traditional local delicacies and Michelin star-awarded delights that’ll satiate the wildest of palates.
And when your tummy needs a break and some time to digest all that food before you feast again, sit back and enjoy live performances that occasionally take place at the festival’s scattered venues.
4. KL Fashion Week
A celebration of homegrown fashion brands
Image credit: @klfashionweek via Instagram
For all the fashion gurus and couture lovers out there, the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week (KLFW) held around August is a celebrated fashion event to keep on your radar.
Recently awarded the Southeast Asia Business Awards 2024 for the ‘Best Fashion Event’ in the country, the prestigious event celebrates the best of Malaysian fashion by providing a platform for homegrown designers and brands to showcase their creations.
Image credit: @klfashionweek via Instagram
The 12th edition of KLFW that was hosted in 2024 saw a lineup of over 50 homegrown labels. These included new and budding brands, as well as veterans, displaying their latest collections on the runway at Esplanade KLCC, with the iconic Petronas Twin Towers as a backdrop.
KL Fashion Week website
5. Putrajaya Lights Festival
Behold the dazzle and shimmer of the lights from the Light and Motion Putrajaya (LAMPU) Festival, which has been illuminating the administrative capital of Malaysia every year without fail for nearly a decade now.
Image credit: Putrajaya Corporation via website
Held in Precinct 3 of Dataran Putrajaya, the spectacular light fiesta is the country’s biggest lighting and motion festival. It features lighting and motion design that uses state-of-the-art technology.
Stroll around the complex of Perbadanan Putrajaya and take in the ethereal sights surrounding you. Spot neon lights and fairy lights embellishing trees, as well as hologram exhibitions, wayang kulit shows, street art installations, and many more.
Image credit: Putrajaya Corporation via website
The highlight of the event is the mesmerising projection mapping show where light projections are reflected against the grand Palace of Justice building, aweing audiences with a spellbinding fusion of lights, colours, patterns, and sounds.
6. George Town Literary Festival
Image credit: George Town Literary Festival via Facebook
One thing about bookworms is that they’ll never stop gushing about books. Fortunately, we have the annual George Town Literary Festival (GTLF) to over-enthuse, be inspired, and generally, just be surrounded by plenty of books.
Since its first edition in 2011, the festival has burgeoned to become the largest world literature festival in Malaysia, and the first literary event in Southeast Asia to receive the Literary Festival Award at the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards.
Image adapted from: @georgetownlitfest via Instagram
From readings and panel discussions in the shadows of historical buildings, to workshops and live performances in hubs within the UNESCO World Heritage Site, participants can expect their literary calendar to be dotted with magnificently bookish things.
Each year, selected local and international writers, poets, and performers come together to engage in topics and themes that are crucial to the present state of the world. The theme for the upcoming GTLF 2024 will be ‘Word on the Street’, which focuses on the stories, voices, and perspectives from the streets.
Image credit: @georgetownlitfest via Instagram
The festival typically takes place every last weekend of November, with the upcoming 14th edition happening from 29th November to 1st December 2024. Admission to the festival is free to all members of the public.
George Town Literary Festival website
7. Dragon Boat Festival
A Dragot Boat race held in states across Malaysia
Image credit: Penang Monthly via website
The Dragon Boat Festival may be a huge Chinese celebration, but Malaysia is definitely keeping the festival alive. The name of the popular festival in Chinese is Duanwu or “starting five” as it is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month in the Chinese year, typically in late June of the Gregorian calendar.
And while the festival is widely celebrated with the culinary tradition of making and consuming zhongzi – pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumplings filled with a myriad of fillings – it is the Dragon Boat race that encapsulates the essence of this celebration.
Image credit: @roguemalayadbt via Instagram festivals in Malaysia
Year after year, several states in Malaysia prepare to host the race religiously, namely at Teluk Bahang Dam in Penang and Sungai Melaka in Melaka. In fact, Penang was the first city outside of China that hosted the Dragon Boat Festival, way back in 1956.
The races are exuberant events, with slender vibrant dragon boats zipping through the waters, bearing paddlers that move in synchronised precision.
Elevating the vigour of the celebration are the drummers pounding their drums to create booms, which not only help to keep the rhythm of the boat-paddling but also signify good luck as they are said to repel evil spirits.
8. Royal Floria Putrajaya
Extravagant flowers displays and exhibits
Image credit: Tourism Malaysia via Facebook
Since its inception in 2007, Royal Floria Putrajaya has been mesmerising Malaysians with extravagant flower displays and exhibits each year. Typically held in the month of August in Putrajaya, the event features all sorts of flowers and plants in various species and colours.
Image credit: Tourism Malaysia via Facebook
Some popular ones to look out for include bonsai, petunias, and orchids, which are creatively part of sculptures and displayed in exhibits throughout the venue. Exhibitors from across Asia will also showcase their creations, centred around the festival’s theme for the year.
Image credit: Tourism Malaysia via Facebook
In addition to the grand displays of flowers in a serene garden setting, visitors can marvel at creative sculptures and installations that celebrate Malaysia as a whole. Plant parents can shop at vendors selling all sorts of agricultural goods and fuel up at a bustling food bazaar – both are key components of the Royal Floria festivities each year too.
9. SUKMA Games
A national multi-sport event
Image credit: SUKMA Perak 2018 via Facebook
The Malaysian Games, more commonly known as the SUKMA Games, is a national multi-sport event that unites Malaysians and shines a spotlight on the local sports scene. It brings together athletes from the nation’s 13 states and three Federal Territories, competing in various sports such as aquatics, badminton, bowling, sepak takraw, shooting, and squash.
Image credit: Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia
The event has been around since 1986 to encourage the overall development of sports in the country. There’s no set month or location where it takes place, as the host state is selected to give localities the chance to develop and showcase their sports facilities on the national stage.
Image credit: Selangor Journal
Briefly held annually in 2011, the sporting event has returned to its roots as a biennial affair that’s kickstarted with a dazzling opening ceremony.
The highly anticipated parade is complete with state anthems and mascots, as well as cultural and live performances from local artistes. A symbolic SUKMA lighting of the cauldron ceremony is also carried out by legendary Malaysian athletes.
10. Malaysia International Film Festival
A public exhibition with a lineup of local and international films
Image credit: @miffest_mgga via Instagram
Whether you’re an avid festival-goer or a movie buff, the Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) will be an event for you. The annual public exhibition, which was recently established in 2016, highlights both international and local films in its programme of movie screenings and events.
The week-long festival releases a Film Lineup and Screening Venue guide before the start of the event each year. Screenings are held at local cinemas and outdoor spaces, and complemented by a marketplace with food vendors, forums, and masterclasses.
Image credit: @miffest_mgga via Instagram
The recent 7th edition of MIFFest was held in KL, with GSC branches in KL and the rooftop park at The Exchange TRX operating as screening venues. The lineup of films covered short films and films, from a wide range of genres like the Malaysian horror Indera and Brazilian drama Betania.
Malaysia International Film Festival website
Annual events to plan your holidays around in Malaysia
Malaysia is definitely not in any shortage of incredible events that go beyond simple celebrations – they allow our society to honour cultural variety and diversity, delve deep into our passions, fortify social ties, and celebrate traditional customs.
So if you’re looking for some fun fiestas and fests to attend, this list has a good selection of unique annual events in Malaysia to plan your holidays around.
For more beauty-related articles, here’s concerts in Malaysia in 2024 and most-anticipated movies coming to theatres in 2024.
Cover image adapted from: @klfashionweek via Instagram & George Town Literary Festival via Facebook
Additional reporting by Janet.