Thousands of people anticipated Kuching Festival Food Fair held at Kuching City South Council’s (MBKS) community hall & its compound, Jalan Padungan

Kuching Festival Food Fair draws over 600,000 people
Story and photos by ZORA CHAN
zora@thestar.com.my

THE Kuching Festival Food Fair ended on a high note on Sunday with an estimated 600,000 people patronising the fair over three weeks.

Thousands of city dwellers and tourists made their way to the annual food fair every night which offered a wide array of food and beverages from 124 stalls.

Held at Kuching City South Council’s (MBKS) community hall and its compound at Padungan Road, the food fair was a much anticipated event whenever the city celebrates the anniversary of its elevation from municipality to city status on August 1.

It’s the place to meet, eat, drink and enjoy good company al-fresco. Kuching City is 22 years old this year.

Kuching Festival also provided a platform for other social side events like the trade fair, garden show and nightly concerts adjacent to the food fair. On weekends, there were martial arts, folk dance and yuanji displays.

And for the first time this year, a kite flying and display competition and pony riding were also held to promote healthy recreational activities among the people.

In another first, MBKS held the Kuching Festival Home Garden and Landscape Competition to encourage and reward residents who put in efforts to beautify their gardens.

A food stall operator Lim Chuan Chan who sold Bangkok roast quails and chicken said he looked forward to taking part in the food fair because of the crowd and merriment.

“I’ve been taking part in the food fair for 15 years and it’s very clean and the festival is well managed by MBKS. The Kuching Festival food fair is just as good as any international food fest and I hope it will continue to grow in the years to come,” he said.

Lim, whose stall was adjudged as the most beautiful single food stall for the second consecutive year, said he was very proud and happy with the recognition.

“The government often talks about getting the people to be more creative and innovative, so this year, I used some simple technology to make my stall brighter and more colourful to attract customers,” said the 56-year-old.

“I have many customers mainly locals and in a night I could sell hundreds of quails and chickens.”

He said he only sold Bangkok roast quails and chicken, a self-taught special recipe twice a year at the Kuching Festival food fair and Inter-Cultural Mooncake Festival.

On Saturday night, MBKS Mayor James Chan announced that RM40,240.85 had been raised through the festival fair, charity golf, garden show (through the Wishing Well) and horse riding, while the biggest donation came from stall holders amounting to RM19,042.

The funds went to The Green Ribbon Association Kuching, Che Hia Khor Moral Uplifting Society, Sarawak Women For Women Society, The Carnation Club of Kuching and Samarahan, Buddhist Tzu Chi Merit Society Malaysia, Sarawak Hun Nam Siang T’ng, Kuching Autistic Association, Sarawak Children’s Cancer Society and Sarawak Breast Cancer Support Group.

The mayor thanked individuals and corporate donors for supporting the good cause.

Environment and Public Health Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh who officiated at the donation and prize presentation urged Sarawakians to help local authorities keep their surroundings clean and beautiful.

Credits to source taken from: http://thestar.com.my/