The roads of laid-back Esplanade transforms into a highly exciting street race track during this adrenaline-pumping go-kart race. Watch and experience the thrill as these local and international pro-racers zoom through the streets at neck-breaking speeds in a bid to outrace one another to be the king of the road.

1. Junction of Armenian Street & Pitt Street ~ 27 December 2009, 8.15pm
2. Esplanade, Padang Kota Lama ~ 2 January 2010, 8.15pm
3. Air Itam, Reservoir Garden ~ 3 January 2010, 8.15pm

Free admission

Ko-Tai Penang

The presentation style of this musical brings to life Penang’s tradition of street performances such as Ko-tai, Chinese opera, storytelling and Ronggeng which have been enjoyed by various ethnic communities.

Creative Team

Drama Director: Ho Sheau Fung

Sheau Fung is a versatile actress, theatre director and traditional performing arts documentor who favors devising issue-oriented performances with a ‘Penang Flavor’. She was chosen as one of the youth directors representing Malaysia at the International Exchange project entitled Contacting the World 2004 in Manchester, England. She is also known for her mixed media compositions in the Mandarin theater scene.

Musical Director: Tan Sooi Beng

Tan is Professor of Ethnomusicology at Universiti Sains Malaysia. An accomplished musician on traditional instruments, her music is unique for the way in which traditional rhythms and sounds are reconstructed and transformed into contemporary compositions with topical themes. Tan has attempted to bring a new Malaysian identity to gamelan music through compositions such as Perubahan (CD Rhythm in Bronze, Five Arts Centre, 2002) and Saling Berpelukan (Rhythm in Bronze at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, 2004). She was the musical director and initiator for Kisah Pulau Pinang (2006) and Ronggeng Merdeka (2007).

Choreographer: Aida Redza

Aida is an international choreographer on the move. She is actively promoting alternative approaches that invite interdisciplinary mediums of performance to intervene with choreography so as to create New Dance Installations. She is better known for her solo work. Her latest performances include Asia Europe Meeting Festival (2002), Images of Asia Festival (2003) in Copenhagen, Asia Europe Young Choreographer’s Festival (2004) in Berlin, Les Urbanisme Festival in Lausanne, Switzerland (2005), Test Portal Festival in Amsterdam (2005), Colours of Dance Festival in Amsterdam (2005), Dance Unlimited Festival (2006) in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, Vision2020 Denmark Festival (2007).

Petronas AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championships

Location: Esplanade, Penang

The Penang Esplanade is back as a venue of a motor-racing event – the final round of the Petronas AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championships from Dec 19-20.

Penang, as a historic location, is the perfect site to end this year’s Cub Prix Championships — making it a one of a kind race, unlike any other.

Wednesday November 4, 2009
The Star Online

Penang Esplanade picked as venue for National Cub Prix final round
PETALING JAYA: The Penang Esplanade is back as a venue of a motor-racing event – the final round of the Petronas AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championships from Dec 19-20.

The event promoters, Safe Aim Mutual Sdn Bhd (SAM), have also changed the dates for the penultimate round of the 10-leg championships, from Nov 14-15 to Dec 5-6.

Promotions director Ron Hogg said that the changes were made in the interest of the Cub Prix contingent.

“The ninth round was initially planned for the second week of November but we pushed the date forward to December in the Sepang South Circuit. Therefore, the final round has to be moved to the third week of December, the week before Christmas.”

Ron added that it would not be such a bad timing to run the race in Penang as it was a perfect venue to draw the curtains on the season in conjunction with the Penang Pesta.

“Penang, as a historic location, would be the perfect site to end this year’s Cub Prix Championships — making it a one of a kind race, unlike any other,” he said.

“We expect the final round to draw a massive crowd, both locals and tourists. Furthermore, it is the school holidays and just around the corner for Christmas and New Year.”

Ron added that it would be the first time that the Cub Prix races will be held on the island.

“We have organised races all over Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak. It will be the first on an island and we are all looking forward to it. I believe the teams, riders and fans will feel the same way too,” he said.

Penang Drum Performance

After the Lion Dance performance last Saturday, there will be a unique drum performance this coming Saturday, featuring multi-ethnic drum performances in an unconventional way.

Preparation for the dance

Anyway back to the lion dance, as we arrived early we had the chance to see them preparing, and for the first time we saw that there were actually mattresses and cushions at the base of the stilts which were later covered with a green silky cloth as part of the decoration.

The crew

There was quite a crowd that came to spectate as well, the night started out with a dragon dance, which IMHO would have been better if it were not cramped up on the small stage. Did not bother to get any shots of it either.

The lion on stilts

The first Lion Dance performance by Team B was well done, nearly no mistakes, but it was not so smooth for Team A later on as there was a part where the front dancer kept falling to the ground, apparently it was due to the strong winds, or IMHO, was due to the dancer at the back being unable to grab onto him properly, but well I’m probably wrong as these guys should be well trained for the performance. Luckily nobody got hurt.

Gaze into the night

There was another performance with a black lion but due to bad placement of the drums, all we could see were the drummers backsides and some glimpses of the lion head when they were raised.

Qi Lin

There was a Qi Lin amongst the lions as well, did not quite like the costume though as it looked to me like a hell hound, and again the view of it was obscured most of the time.

The black lion

Leap of faith

Playful Lion

There will be an international lion dance competition on the 26th to 27th September 2009 at the Komtar Dome. Be sure to go check it out if you’re a fan of lion dance as it will be your chance to watch international standard lion dance right here in Penang!

Bollywood in action @ Esplanade

This August in Penang is a month filled with cultural excitement leading up to Malaysia’s 52nd National Day – MERDEKA! This month we are bringing the cultures of Penang exclusively to you! So make sure you mark your calendars because Esplanade in Action is featuring the enthralling dance of the Indian Culture in Penang this weekend!

Come watch and experience the fascinating dance of the Indian culture in Penang at the Penang Esplanade this Saturday 22nd August 2009 from 8pm to 9.30pm! You will be in for an unforgettable treat as the dance group of the Temple of Fine Arts in Penang will perform some ever-popular Bollywood dances and will also include an oldies theme medley which will feature indian dances from the 50′s up till the current times to give an insight to the evolving indian dance culture. So be prepared as they dance to the latest and also the classical dances just exclusively for you!

Be in awe of their spellbounding dance movements and costumes of vivid colours! That’s the enchanting Indian Culture for you! If you are really up for a fun filled memorable night, make sure you dance along with these talented dancers to the craze and excitement of Bollywood! See you there!

Esplanade in Action is brought to you by Penang State Tourism Development & Culture.

The month of August focuses on the various religion of Penang culture each week. Through these entertaining shows, the world is able to see the uniqueness of each race in Penang living together in peaceful harmony.

Don’t miss out on this eye-opening event of the melting pot of culture and religion in Penang! Bring your friends and family for an entertaining Saturday night of catchy Malay tunes under the bright starry stars!

A splendid indulgence of great food to be enjoyed by all especially featuring the best of both Penang food and Penang parties, happening both at the teach and on the streets.