Every year, July 7th is George Town Heritage Day, a public holiday in Penang. It commemorates the day George Town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This year, the George Town Heritage Celebrations 2023 programmes span from 7-9 July 2023 with the major events being George Town Discovery Walk, George Town Heritage Celebrations Cultural Workshops and WarisHunt (George Town Cultural Heritage Interactive Game).
This blog post is about the George Town Heritage Celebrations Cultural Workshops that was held in the evening of 7 July 2023 (Friday), from 6PM to 10PM. There were many cultural stations where visitors got to participate in various cultural activities and performances. These cultural stations were setup along Lebuh Armenian, Lorong Soo Hong, Lebuh Cannon and Lebuh Acheh. So, visitors get to walk around the George Town heritage area while enjoying the activities and performances.
The list of stations are listed below:
- Bansan (Play And Create)
- Tambola Championship
- Batik Colouring
- Beading Handiwork
- Bloom Of Flower – Garland Making
- Beyond Paper Effigies
- Chinese Calligraphy – A Brushing Experience
- Henna – The Body Art for Celebrations
- Pookalam – Floral Carpet Making
- Wayang Kulit Bookmark Making
- Deutsche Musik – German Musical Workshop
- Majlis Persandingan – Demonstration of Malay Communities’ Wedding Reception Ceremony
- Thirumana Vaibavam – Demonstration of Indian Muslim Traditional Wedding Reception Ceremony
- Sangeet Ki Raat – Demonstration of Sikh Pre-wedding Celebrations
- Dikir Barat
- Joget Dance
- Shimokita – Japanese Traditional Dance
- Siamese Klongyau Dance
- Raas Garba Dance (Gujarati folk dance)
- Lion Dance
A few Chinese Clan buildings and temples were used as venues for the cultural stations, including Seh Tek Tong Cheah Kongsi, Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple and Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi.
Here are some pictures taken around the area during the event:
And here are videos of the Raas Garba dance performance and fun activity learning the Siamese Klongyau dance:
