Festivals in Kuala Lumpur 2012
New year fireworks at the Petronas Towers
Festivals in Kuala Lumpur are a diverse affair due to the many different races and creeds that fill the sprawling metropolis’s various neighbourhoods. Most religious festivals have been incorporated into Malaysian life in one form or another, and there are some boisterous celebrations unique to the city as well.
January festivals in Kuala Lumpur
New Year
The start of the new year is a massive party in Kuala Lumpur with fireworks around KLCC park with the grand Petronas Twin Towers as the backdrop. This is best watched from one of the many rooftop vantage points such as Skybar at the Traders Hotel or Luna Bar on top floor of Menara Pan Global. Then most people retreat to the various trendy nightspots such as Zouk or Beach Club to dance into the new year. More on nightlife.
Thaipusam
Thaipusam is an annual Hindu festival in Kuala Lumpur which is is amongst the most widely revered occasions in the Malaysian calender. Hundreds of devotees pierce their skin with long, shiny, steel spears and puncture their back and chests with small, hooked needles in penance. Seemingly impossible feats of pain tolerance are performed without the blink of an eye as followers go about these rites in a trance-like state. This festival in Kuala Lumpur is celebrated at the Batu Caves temple and falls on January 27th in 2013.
Mawlid (Prophet’s Birthday)
The Muslim celebration of Mawlid marks the Prophet’s birthday and falls on January 24 in 2013. It is an official holiday in Malaysia, and will be marked by brightly adorned mosques, a carnival-like parade and festivities in Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur International Short Film Festival 2012
Screening
Date : 30th 31st Jan - 1st Feb. visit: www.klisfestival.com/
February festivals in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur City Day
Held on the first of the month, Kuala Lumpur City Day takes place at Taman Titiwangsa and Taman Tasik Perdana with lots of fun and festivities for all ages. The park becomes an activity hub from dawn with colouring contests, fishing competitions and a blood donation campaign. And Kuala Lumpur City Hall hosts exhibitions and cultural performances plus firework displays after dark.
Chinese New Year
The most important festival in Kuala Lumpur is arguably Chinese New Year due to the amount of ethnic Chinese people in the city. Celebrated on the first day of the lunar calendar, the celebration lasts for 15 days. Before it kicks off properly there is much shopping, fanfare and various events all around the city and especially Chinatown. Red is an auspicious colour during this time and symbolises luck and prosperity. This idea comes from old legend that a mythical monster which terrorised people in ancient time was scared away by the colour red accompanied by loud noises. So during this Kuala Lumpur festival red lanterns are hung throughout the city and the din of firecrackers is a constant refrain. Chinese New Year falls on February 10-11 on 2013.
March festivals in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival
The Mega Sale Carnival runs for a month and is the best time to pick up a bargain. Shopping may be a way of life in Kuala Lumpur and this summer-long event, a true paradise for shopaholics, entitles visitors to some great special offers and discounts. It also takes place again later in the year in June 15 – 02 September 2012 and November 10 – 01 January 2013.
The Malaysian Grand Prix is a huge sporting event
Malaysian F1 Grand Prix
Malaysia’s Formula 1 Grand Prix is one of the first event of the 2010 F1 calender and takes place from March 23 – 25, 2012 at Kuala Lumpur’s state-of-the-art Sepang track, not far from the airport just outside the city limits. Malaysians are massive motorsport fans and everyone tunes in to see what is happening, making this the most important sporting festival in Kuala Lumpur.
April festivals in Kuala Lumpur
May festivals in Kuala Lumpur
Worker’s Day
May 1 is a Malaysian national holiday when many businesses and attractions close down so that people can commemorate the achievement of the country’s workers.
June festivals in Kuala Lumpur
Festa San Juan/Festa San Pedro
Festa San Juan starts a week of celebration on June 23 which culminated in the Festa San Pedro on June 29. Although mainly a celebration of the Portuguese Settlement in Melaka, there are also festivities taking place in Kuala Lumpur as well. The capital’s Eurasian community come out in force with parades, food, drink and religious celebrations centred around the city’s many churches.
July festivals in Kuala Lumpur
Floral Festival
Undoubtedly the most colourful of all the festivals in Kuala Lumpur! The city comes alive with colour as during the Floral Festival as shopping malls, parks, hotels and streets get in on the action with diverse arrangements and displays. The celebration culminates with a huge parade in Kuala Lumpur.
August festivals in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Salsa Festival (2012 dates still to be finalised)
This festival was held in Kuala Lumpur for the very first time in 2010. Running and based at the Hotel Istana near the city centre, it offers dance fans a little Latino flavour in the Malaysian capital. Salsa workshops with the best international and local instructors, amazing parties and nightly live performances will be put on in extravagant style.
Malaysia’s National Day
On August 31, 1957, the Union Flag was finally lowered from the flagpole at at Dataran Merdeka and the Malayan flag hoisted in its place. After hundreds of years of conflict between the colonists and the different ethnic groups that comprised the land, the country was united and at peace.
This signalled the birth of a nation and is commemorated with a riot of colour. Local singers and celebrities take stage in various parts of the city for a grand Kuala Lumpur festival with free open-air concerts.
September festivals in Kuala Lumpur
Lantern – Moon Cake Festival (Mid-Autumn Festival)
The Mid-Autumn Festival is known also as Lantern Festival or the Moon Cake and has its origins from wartime China of the 14th Century. It marks the fall of the Mongol overlords controlling China at the time and gives thanks for the summer harvest. The Malaysian Chinese celebrate this festival in Kuala Lumpur by sharing and eating moon cakes of different varieties, including some weird and wonderful flavours such as coffee and durian fruit. And at night children walk the streets with foldable ‘Tan Lok’ paper lanterns sometimes shaped like animals. It takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which is September 30 in 2012.
Malaysia Fest
This is the best of Kuala Lumpur’s festivals for those visitors who want to learn more about the nation’s cultural heritage. For two weeks, the shopping complexes and large hotels join forces to showcase the culinary delights, artwork and handicrafts of various states in Malaysia.
October festivals in Kuala Lumpur
Cultural show with dancing for Hari Raya
Hari Raya
Hari Raya is one of the traditional Muslim festivals in Kuala Lumpur to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan. It literally translates as ‘Celebration Day’ and is considered a time of reunion among Malay Muslim kinfolk. Families visit graves of dead ancestors while children seek forgiveness from their elders for youthful indiscretions. Many Malay people welcome guests and join friend to rejoice with good cheer and rich food. Hari Raya celebrations in Kuala Lumpur last well into the end of October giving those in town a great insight into Malay culture in the city.
Shopping Carnival
Yet another of the many Kuala Lumpur festivals dedicated to that favourite of pastimes. The fortnight-long Shopping Carnival features lots of participating malls and stores across the capital offer great discounts and bargain special offers.
November festivals in Kuala Lumpur
Deepavali (Diwali) November 13, 2012
This ‘festival of lights’ is one of the most important annual celebrations in Kuala Lumpur. Hindu Indians in Malaysia celebrate Deepavali by offering thanksgiving prayers and performing cleansing rituals in temples and at household altars. Amongst the most colourful of Kuala Lumpur festivals, temples are lavishly adorned in flowers and offerings of coconut milk and fruit are deposited by devotees to the alters. Deepavali is one of the best Kuala Lumpur festivals for food and delicious Indian delicacies such as rice puddings, flour cookies (murukku) and sweetmeats. On the day of Deepavali itself Hindus usually invite guests to their houses and call on neighbours or friends to share in a delicious Indian feast.
December festivals in Kuala Lumpur
Christmas
Christmas in Kuala Lumpur is not about snow, shopping and Santa Claus. The Malaysian Christmas celebration is still an occasion dedicated to the birth of the Christian Messiah, Jesus Christ. On Christmas Eve Christians gather together for dinners with family and friends. There is carol singing around the different neighbourhoods while Christmas Day itself is spent at church in praise and worship.
Updated and correct: February 2012
