CJMY
The highly-anticipated Penang Hill Festival (PHF) is set to return for its fourth edition from July 21 to 23 this year. Organised by the Penang Hill Corporation (PHC), the festival will be extra special this year as it celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Penang Hill Railway, which began operations in 1923.
The festival will be designed as an educational experience and family-oriented programme that will bring visitors closer to nature and history under the slogan “See the Nature, Feel the History.”
Boosting tourism
With tourism recovering from the pandemic, Penang State Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin is confident that the PHF will boost local tourism efforts in tandem with those taken by the state government.
“Penang Hill attracted 1.4 million people in 2022, and in the first three months of this year, it has already received over 400,000 visitors,” he said.
Yeoh highlighted that the festival offers visitors and locals an array of exciting and interesting programmes, including heritage and nature discovery walk, exhibitions, photography and videography workshops, and the signature event of the Penang Hill Festival, “Music on the Hill – East Meets West.”
Rejuvenating Penang Hill
PHC general manager Datuk Cheok Lay Leng said the festival would be designed as an educational experience for families to enjoy nature, the cool fresh air and history.
“We want the people to know Penang Hill better. This year, we specially design talks around rejuvenating Penang Hill. Since a freak storm happened in 2017, we have seen over 300 landslide spots on the hill. We want to share with you the challenges and the work that we have done to restore, rehabilitate and rebuild the hill,” he said.
The PHC has invested millions of dollars to support the rejuvenation of Penang Hill.
Cheok added that each time a visitor comes back to Penang Hill, they will have a different feeling as many parts of its history are waiting to be discovered.
“In 2019, we had a record of 1.86 million visitors. Then Covid hit, but in the first three months of this year, we have over 400,000 visitors. By year-end, we should expect closer to the number of visitors in 2019.
“So, we continue to invest in Penang Hill. And thank you to the state government for investing millions to support us. We want to make Penang Hill continue to be a very safe place,” he said.
The Penang Hill Festival programme highlights
The festival will feature an exciting line-up of programmes ranging from talks by experienced consulting engineers and authors to photo exhibitions and workshops by professional photographers from Canon Malaysia.
Some of the highlights of the festival include a talk on “Rejuvenating Penang Hill: The Journey Continues…,” a Craig Heritage Trail talk and walk, a Junior Rainforest Exploration, a Penang Hill Photo Exhibition, and a Sunrise & Time-lapse Photography Workshop.
The festival will culminate with the “Music on the Hill – East Meets West” concert featuring Musica Sinfonietta Penang, a prominent homegrown orchestra consisting of talented young and professional local musicians.
To register for the PHF 2023, visitors can visit the Penang Hill Corporation’s website, where they can find more information on the programme details and registration for events. They can also follow the festival’s Facebook page or email their enquiries to [email protected].
Source: Buletin Mutiara.
