Giant flags balanced and tossed by performers, lion dances and floats. A December night parade from Padang Brown down Penang Road to the Esplanade.
December 2026 date not announced yet
The last three parades were on a Saturday in late December. The state names the date a week or two ahead.
Past dates and timesChingay is Penang's parade of giant flags. Performers balance a flag on a bamboo pole up to about 10 metres long, carrying it on the body and even raising it with the mouth, then toss it to the next person, while lion and dragon dance troupes, stilt walkers, bands and floats come behind.
It runs on a Saturday night in December. In 2024 and 2025 it set off from Padang Brown at 6pm, went down Penang Road and finished at the Esplanade, with more than 40 teams each year.
It is free, and you watch from the pavement. The first Penang parade was in 1919; Chingay has been listed as Malaysian national heritage since 2012.
Stay in George Town for Chingay. Pick your dates.
See George Town hotelsOr compare places to stay on Visit Penang: Penang hotels by area and homestays and guesthouses.
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槟城游艺大旗游行一般在十二月的一个星期六晚上举行。2024年和2025年的游行傍晚6点从 Padang Brown 出发，经过槟榔律（Penang Road）， 在海墘（Esplanade）结束，每年有40多支队伍参加。表演者用身体平衡高达约10米的大旗，甚至用嘴巴顶起旗杆，还有舞狮、舞龙和花车。 观看免费。2026年的日期尚未公布。
As the state published them for the 20 December 2025 parade. Confirm the times when the next date is announced.
6pm · Padang Brown
The contingents set off from the field on Jalan Datuk Keramat.
About 6.50pm · Gama
The parade passes Gama supermarket, where Jalan Datuk Keramat meets Penang Road.
7.45pm · Odeon
Down Penang Road past the Odeon cinema.
About 8.45pm · The Esplanade
The finale on the seafront by Penang Town Hall, with a closing dance.
Along Penang Road for the flags between the shophouses, the Esplanade for the finale.
Between Gama and the Odeon, George Town
The parade runs the length of Penang Road, so there is pavement to share along the way. The flags look their tallest here, between the shophouse fronts. Come early: the crowd builds before the first contingent arrives.
Directions in Google Maps
By Penang Town Hall and Fort Cornwallis
Where the parade ends. In 2025 the state also ran a Cultural Experience Zone here, where you could try a lion dance, a dragon dance and holding a Chingay flag, with exhibition boards on the history of the parade.
Directions in Google Maps
The National Heritage Department gives a Chingay flag as 7.6 to 9.8 metres tall and about 27 kg. Performers balance it on the body, carry the pole with the legs and even raise it with the mouth, then toss it from one performer to the next.
Penang's first Chingay was in 1919. Market traders and other Chinese communities carried the Goddess of Mercy and giant flags through George Town to ward off a disease. Later parades were held in 1926 and in 1957, for the centenary of the George Town council; the Penang Chingay Liaison Committee was formed in 1960 to keep the craft going.
Today the parade also carries Malay boria, Indian dance, kebaya groups and Chinese fan dances alongside the flags. Malaysia listed Chingay as national heritage in 2012, and Penang, Johor and Singapore sent a joint nomination to UNESCO in March 2025.
1919
First Penang parade
7.6-9.8 m
Height of a flag
40+
Teams in 2024 and 2025
Where to be and how to get home.
The parade passes each point once. Pick a stretch of Penang Road or the Esplanade and be there before the start time.
The poles are 7 to 10 metres long and the flags are tossed between performers. Keep to the pavement, not the road.
Roads on the route close for the evening. Leave the car at your hotel; George Town hotels around Penang Road are a short walk away.
Everyone heads off together after the finale. Walk a few streets into George Town before you book a Grab.
Penang Road runs through the middle of George Town. Stay within walking distance and skip the closed roads.
Compare Penang hotelsChingay falls in the same weeks as Christmas in Penang and the New Year's Eve countdown at the Esplanade.
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On a Saturday night in December. The last three parades in George Town were on 20 December 2025, 28 December 2024 and 30 December 2023. The state announces each year's date in the Penang press a week or two before; the December 2026 date had not been announced when we last checked, on 3 November 2026.
In 2024 and 2025 it started at Padang Brown on Jalan Datuk Keramat, went down Penang Road and finished at the Esplanade by Penang Town Hall. In 2023 it ended at Lebuh Light, next to the Esplanade.
At 6pm in 2024 and 2025, with the finale at the Esplanade at about 8.45pm in 2025. In 2023 it ran from 7pm to 11pm.
A street parade whose best-known act is balancing a giant flag on a bamboo pole, carried on the body and even raised with the mouth, then tossed between performers. The National Heritage Department gives the flag as 7.6 to 9.8 metres tall and about 27 kg. The parade also has lion and dragon dances, stilt walkers, school bands and floats.
The first parade was in 1919, when market traders and other Chinese communities carried the Goddess of Mercy and giant flags around George Town to ward off a disease. Malaysia listed Chingay as national heritage in 2012, and Penang, Johor and Singapore submitted a joint nomination to UNESCO in March 2025.
There has been. In 2023 a Butterworth parade ran a week before the island one, from Bagan Luar to Tow Boo Kong Temple on Jalan Raja Uda. Check the state announcement each year.
Yes. It is a street parade; you watch from the pavement.
Sometimes. Chingay flag teams also perform at the state Chap Goh Mei celebration at the Esplanade, on the 15th night of Chinese New Year.
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