The Kuching Festival is no stranger to any person who calls Kuching home, and this year I went to the Kuching Festival Fair 2023.
It is a month-long celebration by both the Kuching North City Hall and Council of the City of Kuching South to mark the day Kuching gained its city status.
Over the years, particularly after the pandemic, the festival had grown to be bigger and better.
Thousands go to the festival site which is located at the side of the iconic Council of the City of Kuching South.
I must admit that I have reservations going to the festival over the years because parking can be difficult, and I seemed to have developed a liking to less crowded places as I age.
Getting to the Kuching Festival Fair 2023
However, my family wanted to go, so I tagged along, or rather drove them there.
Knowing the festival would be crowded, we left home at about 5PM.
Some stalls at the food festival start operation as early as 4.30PM, so being there around 5.30PM is just nice to have better choice of parking and to avoid the crowd.
If you are not familiar with the venue, the map below will help. Do note that the map points to the Garden Park MBKS. This is because the festival site includes the park.
We arrive just before 5.20PM and managed to secure parking within the Garden Park.
From there on, we walked to the Kuching Food Fair which is the main highlight of the whole festival. The food fair is also the reason my family and I was there.
Kuching Festival Entry, price and tickets
Despite its size, the Kuching Festival is open to the general public for free, and there is no physical or digital ticket. There was however a QR code at the entrance for those wanting to join the festival’s lucky draw, but I opted not to do so.
You can just walk into the festival grounds and enjoy the whole festival.
I did just that, passing by the well-lit Garden Park, and into the Kuching Food Fair.
Kuching Food Fair
The Kuching Food Fair is enormous. It is so huge that I couldn’t cover the whole ground.
In fact, it was made known prior to the festival that 285 food stalls would be operating this time around.
There was plenty of variety to choose from ranging from local Dayak dishes, Middle eastern dishes, Korean Dishes, Malay dishes, Western dishes and more.
Since I went on a weekday, the crowd wasn’t as huge, so I could find a table to seat while my family looked for food
Sitting at the table meant I could watch as the crowd passed by.
As I watched the crowd grow with dinner time approaching, I can’t help feeling a sense of pride being a Sarawakian seeing people of all ages, races and ethnicities coming to festival and enjoying themselves.
People were sharing tables with strangers to dine, while stalls of different background and menu were set side by side, doing businesses without anyone making a fuss.
To me, this was a clear reflection of what being Sarawakians meant, and it is something very foreign in some other land.
Anyway, as my family came back with their choice of food for the night and it was my turn to seek what I wanted for dinner.
This is what one usually does at the Kuching Food Fair. One would sit booking the table, while others take turn to look out for their dishes. Eventually everyone would get something they like, sit down at the table, and share what they had bought in true Sarawakian style.
I ventured around to seek what I figured would be unique or good for dinner and ended with Pork intestines with Kimchi, and Cuttlefish Tokoyaki.
There were plenty of other options, but my daughter didn’t finish her Pork Hotdog, and so I had to finish it for her.
As we finished eating, I cleared the table we were using so that others could use it when we left.
There were cleaners on duty, but I noticed most visitors using the tables cleaned up after themselves, so the cleaners had less work.
It was quite a sight to see how Kuching people had developed that sense of responsibility after using public facilities.
There’s also a ‘fun fair corner’ which offered prizes, but I wasn’t really interested to check the section out.
I also noticed there was less smoke from grill and barbeque this time around and noticed that the hawkers and vendors were pushing the smoke up with a fans. Ingenious!
The Garden Show
We then left the Food Dair for the Garden Show which was another major attraction of the Kuching Festival.
This show transforms the nearby Kuching Park into a beautiful, illuminated garden with neon lights nicely arranged and lighted at every corner of the park.
Since the Garden Show covered almost the whole Kuching Park, I couldn’t visit all the lighted areas. I decided to only take a few pictures of what I thought were nice as I made my way to the floating stage where the night performances were held.
Performances at Kuching Festival Fair 2023
I am made to understand that the floating stage would have performances every night.
Tonight, the performances featured the Hakka Lion Dance 2.0 competition.
There were several troupes of lion dances performing and there was a huge crowd watching the performances below the stage.
This was my first time watching the performances on the floating stage, and it was indeed very captivating as the lion dance performances had their own style and story they wanted to relay.
I stayed for a good 30 minutes watching the show but decided to head back home as it was getting late.
Seats below the stage were fully occupied with many standing on the grass to see the performances.
Kuching Festival Fair 2023 Operating hours
In case you are wondering, the Kuching Festival Fair officially begins from 6PM and ends at 11PM daily, from 26 July to 18 August 2023.
I initially only wanted to spend about an hour there, but ended staying for almost three hours as there was a lot to see, taste and do.
Since I didn’t check out the whole festival fair, I may just go again before it ends this 18 August.
Video of Kuching Festival
In case you aren’t satisfied with the photos I took, you can see them in the video below.
Tips before going to the Kuching Festivail Fair
If it’s your first time, here’s my tips for this year.
- Bring cash because drinks are sold in cash only, and there’s no ATM around
- It would be best to bring a beg to carry your food
- Wear light clothing because the weather can be rather humid
- Prepare a raincoat or umbrella. It’s an open event so it’s not protected from rain
- Be prepared to share tables. Ask before seating.
Conclusion
That said, I do feel that the Kuching Festival Fair 2023 is something everyone would enjoy.
As I mentioned earlier, I do find myself liking less crowded places these days, but I did find the Kuching Festival Fair to be really worth a visit.
I say this even though I’ve actually been to the festival countless times in the past.
That said, if you aren’t from Kuching and you are reading this, go to the festival fair. It shouldn’t be missed.
- LEARN about Kuching Festival
- BUY clothing suitable to go to Kuching Festival
- READ more about Kuching Festival
- SEE hotels near Kuching Festival
