Dubbed as the Malaysia’s cultural and foodie haven, Penang is famous for their local delights like chendol, laksa and roti canai. Now, there’s even more reason to head down this month. From Apr 15-30, the foodie capital will host the inaugural Penang International Food Festival, a 16-day extravaganza of food events, trails and workshops.
The festival opens with the inaugural Penang Street Food Festival, an open-air fiesta featuring traditional street food like curry mee, bak zhang, assam laksa, tandoori and naan and murtabak, alongside cooking demonstrations, carnival games, outdoor theater and workshops that teach you how to make popiah skin, tang yuan, curry puff and more. Then, head over to the Fringe Food Festival to watch contestants battle it out at the various competitions like the Professional Chef Challenge, Latte Art Championship and Cocktail Compeitition.
Embrace the sun at their street food carnival where everything costs RM$2, or check out the coconut-centric market where the fruit is used to make food and functional items, or join Food Truck Gathering, where their famous street food are prepared by trendy truck vendors. If you still have some energy, join their enriching tours like the Urban Farm Tour, which will bring you to places like Saanen Dairy Goat Farm to make your own goat milk-flavored Chinese steam buns and nutmeg factory Ghee Hup to learn about how the fruit is made into different products. Also, who would’ve thought that typical wet markets would become part of huge festival? The Wet Market Tour will take you around their famous Chowrasta Market, giving you a glimpse of how wet markets of yesteryears looked like.
Different admission requirements apply for each event. Find out more here.
