Festivals
- St. Anne's Novena and Feast
St. Anne's Novena and Feast is held annually in the end of July at the St. Anne's Church, Bukit Mertajam. It attracts nearly 100,000 pilgrims nation-wide and outside the country and one of the largest Catholic celebrations in the country. Among the highlights are the candlelight procession and a holy parade through the streets bearing the statue of St. Anne.
- Hungry Ghost Festival
Hungry Ghost Festival is held at the Pek Kong Temple along Pasar Road during the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar which boasts a 10m-tall effigy of the King of Hades. Among the highlights of the month-long festival are stage concerts known as 'kotai' and recital performances to entertain the spirits. At the 17th day of the celebration, about 10,000 pilgrims gathered at night to witness the send-off of the King of Hades which is the burning the paper effigy of the deity, which symbolises the departure of the deity back to the underworld.
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Famous quotes containing the word festivals:
“Why wont they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, cant they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping—rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year’s and Easter and Christmas—But, goodness, why need they do it?”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“This is certainly not the place for a discourse about what festivals are for. Discussions on this theme were plentiful during that phase of preparation and on the whole were fruitless. My experience is that discussion is fruitless. What sets forth and demonstrates is the sight of events in action, is living through these events and understanding them.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)