Penang Hill Festival to showcase more than biosphere, includes cultural heritage and music

Malay Mail

10 hours ago

GEORGE TOWN, July 15 — Penang Hill will celebrate the sixth edition of its Penang Hill Festival (PHF2025) this weekend, highlighting not only its biodiversity but also its rich cultural heritage.
According to Penang Hill Corporation (PHC) general manager Datuk Cheok Lay Leng, the three-day festival is expected to attract more than 25,000 visitors.
'The crowd will be spread out over three days of activities that focus on creating awareness and education on the biosphere reserve, Penang Hill's cultural heritage and it will culminate with Music on The Hill at the Bellevue Hotel,' he said.
He said the Music on The Hill event, themed East Meets West, will feature performances by local and outstation groups.
'There are programmes for students, families and individuals with interests in learning more about nature and Penang Hill,' he said.
'Penang Hill is not only about nature. There are also cultural elements — we have a Hindu temple and a mosque on top of the hill, and a Chinese temple accessible from the middle station,' he said when contacted today.
The Penang Hill Festival will culminate with a Music on the Hill which will be held at Bellevue Hotel this year.
Cheok said visitors can also explore the Crag Heritage Trail to learn more about The Crag, a property built in the mid-19th century as a sanitarium before being converted into a hotel and later a boarding school.
The Crag was also a filming location for the 1992 movie Indochine and the British television series Indian Summers in 2014.
There will also be guided nature walks along trails such as the Viaduct Trail and Moniot Trail, as well as night explorations and a junior rainforest trail designed for students.
Visitors can also explore the Crag Heritage Trail to learn more about The Crag, a property built in the mid-19th century as a sanitarium before being converted into a hotel and later a boarding school.
In addition to the walks, Cheok said there will be talks on topics such as Conserving the Flora and Fungi of Penang Hill, Essential Tips for Hiking, Man and the Biosphere Reserve, and How the Rainforest Enhances Our Wellbeing.
For those seeking hands-on experiences, the festival will offer activities such as bird photography, birdwatching, a Drosera adelae planting workshop, mushroom exploration, an animal armour workshop, batik painting, and a macro and nature photography workshop.
Some of these activities are free, while others require a small participation fee.
Cheok said pre-registration is required for some of the activities due to limited spots, especially for the nature trails.
In conjunction with this year's festival, PHC also launched a postcard project today in collaboration with Tourism Malaysia Northern Region and ATEC College (School of New Media Design).
Limited-edition sets of five postcards will be available for free redemption by visitors who post a photo or video taken during the festival — between July 18 and 20 — on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.
To qualify, users must tag Penang Hill and ATEC College, like both pages, and use the hashtags #phf2025, #penanghillfestival and #atecpenang.
The postcards are available on a first-come, first-served basis and can be collected at the PHF2025 Information Counter near Dataran Bukit Bendera.