The annual Kuching Festival Food Fair is making a comeback this year after a two-year lapse due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a target of 250 stalls and 500,000 visitors.

Slated for between July 29 and Aug 31, this year’s festival theme is ‘Kuching’s Best Creative Food and Culture’ and scheduled to take place at its usual venue – Dewan Masyarakat MBKS at Jalan Padungan here.

According to Kuching South Mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng, the forthcoming festival will provide an avenue for vendors to make additional income, and the organising committee has decided to maintain the rental fees as those offered in 2019.

“We are putting up the Kuching Festival to let vendors to have a chance to make some income. After all, some people have suffered from the pandemic for two or so years even though we are transitioning to endemicity.

“We will engage delivery companies to do delivery and also provide drive-thru for pick-up. All these are under our initial discussions.

“We still maintain the rentals, which are the same as those in 2019. We will absorb extra costs. We appeal to the public to come up with proposals which offer more creative food,” he said at a news conference at the Kuching South City Council’s committee room here today.

During the 2019 Kuching Festival, food stalls were priced between RM550 and RM3,000, depending on the size and location of the stalls.

Wee said even though the target is 250 stalls, if more applications came in later, the organiser shall find a way to accommodate more.

Whether the organiser will spread out the festival – holding it at various locations apart from the Dewan Masyarakat MBKS, he said: “It depends on how many applications we will be receiving.”

The mayor pointed out that the approval of applications will be based on applicants’ creativity, chiefly on how to promote and better present the local delicacies.

He added: “We hope to see them (vendors) serve a rich variety of food, and not all sausages, for an example. Be more creative on food presentation.”

Applications for stalls are now open and will close before or at 4pm on May 24. Forms are available on https://forms.gle/Bz8M5mtuuRUH18Ba7 or visit counter No.8 or No.9 at the MBKS One-Stop Service Centre, from 8.30am to 4pm.

In terms of crowd control, Wee said the organiser will engage Rela personnel and volunteers to assist with the flow.

Meanwhile, organising chairman Goh Tze Hui said the trade fair will be done away with this year, but the garden show and stage performances are to stay.

“We allow dine-in with proper SOPs (standard operating procedures) to ensure the safety of all.”

According to him, the 2019 Kuching Festival attracted 285 stalls and as many as one million visitors – locals and foreigners alike.

He admitted that it will be a little hard to manage crowds if the festival was spread out.

“The festival registered one million visitors in 2019 and before that, we had 700,000 to 800,000 visitors every year. This year, we hope to get half a million visitors. Within the Dewan Masyarakat, it will be easier to manage the crowds.”

For Kuching South Deputy Mayor Hilmy Othman, this year’s Kuching Festival should serve as a start to get things rolling with people embracing normalcy after the pandemic.

“It’s an opportunity for people to showcase their creative and different food. What’s more, Kuching Festival is also on the calendar of state tourism.”

According to Hilmy, the annual festival has previously attracted a good number of tourists from Singapore due to availability of flights.

He said: “Now that we have Scoop and AirAsia connecting Kuching and Singapore, and with attractive hotel rates, tourists from Singapore should be able to join the festival.”

Also present was MBKS councillor Kho Teck Wan.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by LIM HOW PIM

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