Saturday 17 November 2012

Beach carnival

Beach carnival

THE popular Batu Ferringhi beach belt is expected to come alive with a wide array of activities during the annual Penang Beach Carnival 2012 on Nov 25.

The carnival, touted as one of the biggest events in the state, will see Penangites and tourists alike having fun at the beach the whole day and night.

The event promises to have something in store for everybody as there will be, among others, a Beach Run, a Photography Competition, Traditional Games and Oppa Gangnam Style performance.

State Youth and Sports, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Lydia Ong said the carnival, which is in its fourth edition, would have 26 activities including various sports and games competition.

“The highlight of the event will be the Lantern Show where all the hotels along the Batu Ferringhi tourism belt will hang their handmade lanterns at their entrances.

“Visitors will be able to view the display from hotel to hotel and the best lantern would be picked as the winner,” she said before the start of the Penang Beach Carnival 2012 gotong- royong programme at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa.

Some 80 people comprising hotel employees and Penang Municipal Council workers took part in the programme on Saturday morning covering the beach area from Rasa Sayang to the Golden Sands Resort and Lone Pine Hotel.

In a press conference at the Eastin Hotel on Monday, more details were shared about three events that will be in the Beach Carnival line-up, namely the Eastin Challenge Trophy Cooking Competition, Mr Penang Beach Carnival and Beach Run.

Chef’s Association of Malaysia Penang Chapter general committee member Chef Mohd Bakri Said said the cooking competition was scheduled to start at 2pm.

“The contestants, in teams of three will be given an hour to come up with a tantalising main course as well as a fruit and vegetable carving,” Bakri said, adding that the competition was opened to all culinary students in colleges.

The top three teams will each receive a medal as well as cash prizes of RM500, RM300 and RM200 respectively.

As for the Mr Penang Beach Carnival, the top three body builders will receive RM400, RM300 and RM100 respectively as well as a medal each.

Penang Body Builders’ Association secretary Shukri Abdullah said the competition was divided into three categories - Teenagers under-70kg, Teenagers above-70kg and Open category for those aged 21 and above.

For the Beach Run, there will be six categories namely the Men and Women’s Junior (13 to 20 years old), Men and Women’s Open (21 to 34 years old) as well as Men and Women’s Veteran (35 years old and above).

Penang Amateur Athletic Association secretary V. Govindasamy said they were expecting more than 500 people for the 8.2km run which will start at the beach fronting the Golden Sands Resort at 7.30am.

“Ten prizes will be given for each category at the event,” he said.

Entry forms for the Beach Run can be downloaded from http://penangaaa.blogspot.com.

The Penang Beach Carnival will be held from 7am to 10pm at the Golden Sands Resort beach. For enquiries, call 04-6593713 or 04-6593714.

~News courtesy of The Star~