Penang Festival Calendar 2026 & 2027
Subscribe once and never mis-date Thaipusam, Chinese New Year, the Nine Emperor Gods or George Town Festival again — dates kept current, in your own calendar app.
Penang’s festivals shift every year across three different calendars — Chinese lunar, Hindu/Tamil, and Islamic (Hijri) — so almost nobody keeps an accurate list, and the ones that exist go stale. This calendar is maintained: subscribe once and every major Penang festival lands in your phone or laptop calendar, updating automatically as dates are confirmed each year.
Subscribe to the calendar
Subscribing keeps your calendar in sync — corrections and new festivals appear on their own (calendar apps refresh subscribed feeds every ~12–24 hours, not instantly). Downloading imports a one-time snapshot that won’t update.
What’s on in Penang, 2026
Every major festival with a verified 2026 date. Tap a festival for the full guide.
February 2026
Thaipusam
1 Feb 2026Malaysia-wide Thaipusam. In Penang the Nattukottai Chettiar silver chariot and kavadi procession winds from George Town up to the Waterfall Hilltop Temple (the Chetti Pusam eve procession runs 31 Jan).
Hindu / Tamil calendar — date shifts yearly
Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta
13–15 Feb 2026Hot air balloons in many shapes — morning flights, tethered rides and the evening night glow at the Polo Ground.
Announced each year by the organiser — dates vary
Chinese New Year
17–18 Feb 2026Year of the Fire Horse. Kek Lok Si light-up, Khoo Kongsi lion dances, the Clan Jetties and Chingay parade — Penang at its most spectacular. (Public holiday 17–18 Feb.)
Chinese lunar calendar — date shifts yearly
March 2026
Chap Goh Mei
3 Mar 2026The 15th and final night of Chinese New Year — Penang’s "Chinese Valentine’s Day", when oranges are thrown into the sea at the Esplanade.
Chinese lunar calendar — date shifts yearly
Hari Raya Aidilfitri
21–22 Mar 2026anticipated · moon-sightingThe end of Ramadan: open houses, traditional Malay feasts, and mosque celebrations across the island (Balik Pulau, Teluk Kumbar). An extra public holiday was declared 20 Mar.
Islamic (Hijri) calendar — shifts yearly, set by moon-sighting
July 2026
George Town World Heritage City Day
7 Jul 2026Penang state public holiday marking George Town’s UNESCO World Heritage inscription (7 July 2008) — heritage events across the historic core.
Fixed Gregorian dates — same every year
Penang Bon Odori Festival
18 Jul 2026Japanese summer dance festival at the Esplanade, organised by the Malaysian Japanese Society — yukata, taiko drumming and food stalls.
Announced each year by the organiser — dates vary
August 2026
George Town Festival
1–9 Aug 2026Penang’s premier arts festival — 17th edition, theme "Beyond Boundaries": 40+ programmes across theatre, dance, music and visual art, 80%+ free.
Announced each year by the organiser — dates vary
Hungry Ghost Festival (Phor Tor)
13 Aug – 10 Sep 2026The seventh-lunar-month "ghost month" (main day 27 Aug): island-wide getai street opera, paper-effigy burning and roadside offerings. Now on Penang’s state heritage gazette.
Chinese lunar calendar — date shifts yearly
Recurs yearly — exact 2026 dates not yet announced
These happen every year but the organiser hasn’t published exact 2026 dates yet. We add them to the subscribable feed once a date is confirmed — we don’t guess.
Penang International Dragon Boat Festival
June 2026 (exact dates announced yearly)International dragon boat racing at Teluk Bahang. Exact dates are released by the organiser closer to the event.
Durian Season
May–August 2026 (peak June–July)Penang’s beloved Musang King, D24 and Black Thorn durians, eaten fresh at Balik Pulau orchards. A harvest window, not a fixed date.
Penang International Food Festival
Throughout July 2026 (programme announced yearly)A month of food trails, chef demos and hawker showcases across the island. The full programme is published each July.
Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM)
Sun 13 Dec 2026 (flag-off from 1.30am)Full marathon, half marathon and 10km across the Second Penang Bridge. The race date is confirmed by the organiser each year.
What’s on in Penang, 2027
Public-holiday festivals use the 2027 Malaysian gazette (published Aug 2026). Lunar and Tamil-calendar festivals that are not public holidays are marked “expected” until a Penang authority publishes them.
February 2027
Chinese New Year
6–7 Feb 2027Year of the Goat (Ding-wei). Kek Lok Si light-up, Khoo Kongsi lion dances and the Clan Jetties — Penang at its most spectacular. Public holidays 6–7 Feb, with Mon 8 Feb as the replacement holiday.
Chinese lunar calendar — date shifts yearly
Jade Emperor’s Birthday (Pai Ti Kong)
14 Feb 2027Expected · to be confirmedHokkien New Year: on the eve of the 9th day of Chinese New Year, Hokkien families make offerings to the Jade Emperor, traditionally including sugarcane. The celebrations start the night before the date shown.
Chinese lunar calendar — date shifts yearly
Chap Goh Mei
20 Feb 2027Expected · to be confirmedThe 15th and final night of Chinese New Year — Penang’s "Chinese Valentine’s Day", when oranges are thrown into the sea at the Esplanade.
Chinese lunar calendar — date shifts yearly
April 2027
Ching Ming (Tomb-Sweeping Day)
5 Apr 2027Expected · to be confirmedFamilies visit, clean and make offerings at ancestral graves — expect busy roads near the cemeteries.
Chinese lunar calendar — date shifts yearly
Songkran (Thai New Year)
13–15 Apr 2027Penang’s Thai community marks the water festival with water-pouring rituals, merit-making and cultural performances along Lorong Burma.
Fixed Gregorian dates — same every year
Puthandu (Tamil New Year)
14 Apr 2027Expected · to be confirmedThe first day of the Tamil month of Chithirai — temple prayers and family gatherings in Little India.
Hindu / Tamil calendar — date shifts yearly
September 2027
Mid-Autumn (Lantern) Festival
15 Sep 2027Expected · to be confirmedMooncakes and lantern walks on the 15th night of the eighth lunar month.
Chinese lunar calendar — date shifts yearly
Nine Emperor Gods Festival
30 Sep – 8 Oct 2027Expected · to be confirmedNine days of Taoist ritual and island-wide vegetarian food (yellow flags). Sea send-off procession with fireworks at Tow Boo Kong Temple, Butterworth.
Chinese lunar calendar — date shifts yearly
December 2027
Dongzhi (Winter Solstice)
22 Dec 2027Expected · to be confirmedFamilies gather for tang yuan (glutinous rice balls) on the winter solstice.
Chinese lunar calendar — date shifts yearly
Christmas in Penang
25 Dec 2027A tropical Christmas — church services in George Town (St George’s is the oldest Anglican church in SE Asia, and hosted the 2025 State Christmas Celebration) and light displays at Straits Quay and Gurney Plaza through December.
Fixed Gregorian dates — same every year
Recurs yearly — exact 2027 dates not yet announced
These happen every year but the organiser hasn’t published exact 2027 dates yet. We add them to the subscribable feed once a date is confirmed — we don’t guess.
Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta
Usually February (2026: 13–15 Feb)Morning flights and the evening night glow. The 2027 dates have not been announced.
George Town Festival
Usually early August (2026: 1–9 Aug)Penang’s flagship arts festival. GTWHI has tendered for the 2027 and 2028 editions; dates are not yet out.
Feast of St Anne, Bukit Mertajam
Feast day Mon 26 Jul 2027 (2026 feast: 17–26 Jul)Evening Mass and a candlelight procession through the streets around the basilica. The basilica announces the festival dates and the procession night each year.
Penang International Dragon Boat Regatta
Recent editions: late NovemberInternational dragon boat racing. Exact 2027 dates are announced by the organiser.
Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM)
Late in the year (2026: 13 Dec)The race date is confirmed by the organiser each year.
Embed this calendar
Run a Penang events or travel page? Drop our always-current calendar into your site — you get maintenance-free accurate festival dates, no lunar-date research required. Copy this snippet:
<iframe src="https://www.visitpenang.com/festivals/calendar.ics" title="Penang Festival Calendar" width="100%" height="600" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #e5e7eb;border-radius:12px"></iframe>Prefer a direct feed? Point any calendar app or community calendar at https://www.visitpenang.com/festivals/calendar.ics.
Festival calendar FAQs
How do I subscribe to the Penang festival calendar?
Tap one of the Subscribe buttons above. "Add to Google Calendar" opens Google and asks you to confirm; "Apple Calendar / Outlook" opens a webcal:// link your device handles automatically; "Microsoft 365" adds it to Outlook on the web. Once subscribed, the festivals appear in your normal calendar app and update automatically whenever we correct or add a date.
What is the difference between subscribing and downloading the .ics file?
Subscribing (the webcal:// link) keeps your calendar in sync — if a lunar date is corrected or a new festival is added, your calendar updates on its own. Downloading the .ics file imports a one-time snapshot; it will not update later. For a year-round calendar that shifts across three lunar systems, subscribing is the better choice.
How quickly do subscribed dates update?
Google Calendar and Apple Calendar refresh subscribed feeds roughly every 12–24 hours, not instantly. So if we correct a date, it will appear in your calendar within about a day rather than the moment we change it. This is a limitation of the calendar apps, not the feed.
Why do Penang festival dates change every year?
Penang’s festivals follow three different calendars: Chinese New Year, Chap Goh Mei, the Hungry Ghost Festival and the Nine Emperor Gods follow the Chinese lunar calendar; Thaipusam and Deepavali follow the Hindu/Tamil calendar; Hari Raya follows the Islamic (Hijri) calendar and is set by moon-sighting. Because all three shift against the Gregorian calendar, the dates move every year — which is exactly why a maintained, subscribable calendar is useful.
Are these dates confirmed for 2026?
Yes — every dated festival here is a verified 2026 date checked against primary sources (Malaysian public-holiday gazette, organiser announcements, temple notices). Hari Raya is a gazette-anticipated date subject to official moon-sighting confirmation, and is labelled "anticipated". Festivals whose exact 2026 dates have not yet been published (e.g. the Dragon Boat Festival, the food festival, PBIM) are listed separately with their month, but are deliberately left out of the feed rather than guessed.
Are the 2027 dates confirmed?
The festivals that are public holidays — Thaipusam (22 Jan), Chinese New Year (6–7 Feb), Hari Raya Aidilfitri (10–11 Mar), Wesak (20 May) and Deepavali (28 Oct) — are on the 2027 Malaysian public-holiday list published by the Prime Minister’s Department in August 2026; Islamic dates and Deepavali remain subject to change. Festivals that are not public holidays (Chap Goh Mei, the Hungry Ghost month, Mid-Autumn, the Nine Emperor Gods and others) are labelled “expected”: they come from published lunar-calendar tables and rarely move, but no Penang authority has published them yet.
Can I add this calendar to my own website?
Yes. Copy the embed snippet near the bottom of this page to drop the calendar into your own Penang events or travel page. You can also point any calendar app or community calendar at the feed URL directly. We keep the dates current, so embedded copies stay accurate without you re-researching lunar dates every year.