George Town, Penang - World Heritage Site Celebration

I booked my tickets way in advanced with Jetstar Budget Airways for another food excursion to Penang with my wife, and was pleasantly surprised when i arrived on July 7 to find out that in conjunction with George Town, Penang celebrating its 4th Anniversary as a UNESCO Heritage site, there was a series of events organised to celebrate this important milestone. This event was called Live Heritage , which ran from 6-8th July all throughout George Town.

Brochure detailing all the events happening in George Town
from 6-8th July 

It was fantastic and i truly enjoyed myself especially the Street Performances, Temple open houses and even food streets. The street performances started from 6.45-11.00pm were organised to 4 zones. There were at
  Zone 1: junction of Lebuh Acheh and Lorong Lumut
  Zone 2: junction of Lebuh Armenia and Lorong Soo Hong
  Zone 3: junction of Kampong Kolam and Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling
  Zone 4: Khoo Kongsi , Cannon Square.

It was food galore as well as many street vendors were out an about. I truly enjoyed the Nasi Kandar Festival and also the samplings of authentic Teochew food at the Han Jiang Ancestral Temple at Lebuh Chulia by the Penang Teochew Association. The nightline of the usually quite George Town area became alive with heritage at corner giving it an air of mystic and wonder.

Another observation i made especially from the Street Performances and the organising team involved in giving out brochures, giving directions and selling merchandise, is that many are youths, getting involved in preserving and conserving their proud heritage. Many of the youths in Penang are seen helping out in the night events either as performers or in the organising team which gave me that impression.

Below are some of the pictures i took while enjoying myself around George Town.

Wayang Performance (with English subtitle) with the
beautiful Khoo Kongsi as the backdrop 

Street Performance in front of Han Jiang Ancestral Temple, Lebuh Chulia

Lotus Dragon Performance inside Temple courtyard

Boy mesmerised by the shadow puppets 

Making a pit stop at our favourite place- Nasi Dalca Rahim 

Places of prayer remained opened throughout the night

Truly a multi-religious place co-existing in harmony  

I took many photos of the event and also ate many good Penang food. Will try to make this at least a two article post of my experiences of this trip. But if i forget, i will leave with you with this picture that accurately depicts what i felt.

"Rojak Penang" Cinema on the Street at Lebuh Ah Quee