George Town Festival
ByIn the gathering dusk the incessant and hypnotic drum beat permeated the crowd and people paused to listen. As the tempo rose, heads turned to find the source and those nearest the corner started to drift towards the sound. Soon there was a steady movement in that direction. In the next street the crowd stood entranced by the performance outside the Chinese temple. The lion dancers, in extravagant attire leapt and cavorted to the complex and incessant beat. Camera flashes caught the exotic costumes in mid flight and the audience applauded each new acrobatic set piece.
This was just one of the hundreds of street performances, working demonstrations and craft stalls that made up the George Town Festival. Chinese Clan Temples, normally private, were thrown open to the public. Mosques, Hindu temples and churches welcomed everyone. Historical Chinese Merchant Mansions had conducted tours and the gates of the old British Fort were opened in welcome.
The Chinese Malaysian settlements of Melaka and George Town were granted World Heritage Site status on 7 July 2008. So on 7th July 2010 the second anniversary was celebrated. In one street there was a Malay heritage cultural performance whist Indian dance and music throbbed a few streets away. In yet another venue a crowd sat and watched open air Chinese Opera whilst munching on some of the tit bits produced by the numerous food stalls.
We were delighted to by a set of wooden toast tongs ingeniously made by a local man from reclaimed orange box wood. Now we can safely extract hot toast from our toaster.
