Food festivals in Penang worth planning a trip around, by month.
Food festivals in Penang worth planning a trip around, by month.
For nine days each ninth lunar month, hundreds of Penang hawker stalls hang yellow flags and go vegetarian, from mock-meat nasi kandar to char kway teow.
Focus: Vegetarian hawker food
Tip: Look for the yellow flags: they mark stalls serving the festival's vegetarian menus, many of which exist only these nine days.
Penang's Mid-Autumn Festival fills the Clan Jetties with lanterns while Penang Road's mooncake counters stack lotus, salted-yolk and mixed-nut pastries.
Focus: Mooncakes
Tip: Be at the Clan Jetties by 19:00 on festival night; the lanterns over the water are the picture everyone comes for.
Deepavali turns Penang's Little India into rows of oil lamps and kolam patterns, with murukku, laddu and gulab jamun stacked at every sweet counter.
Focus: Indian sweets and snacks
Tip: Visit the fortnight before the day itself; the festival bazaars along Lebuh Penang sell sweets and snacks at their freshest.
Thaipusam sends milk-pot processions from George Town to the Waterfall Hilltop Temple, with food stalls and offerings lining the whole Penang route.
Focus: Milk offerings, roadside stalls and free meals
Tip: The procession route along Jalan Utama is lined with stalls and free refreshment points; go early morning for the main day.
Chinese New Year lights Kek Lok Si with tens of thousands of lamps while Penang's clan houses host reunion dinners and prosperity-toss yee sang.
Focus: Reunion dinners and yee sang
Tip: Plan meals ahead: many family-run stalls close for the first one to three days of the new year, so book restaurants early.