Grand cultural carnival in Tawau

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TAWAU: A grand cultural carnival will be held here on January 14 and 15 to promote arts and culture in Tawau as well as to attract more tourists to the district.

Municipal Council president Ismail Mayakob said 20 different communities would take part in the carnival while Brunei and Indonesia had also been invited to participate in the event.

The theme for the carnival is ‘Kebudayaan Untuk Kedamaian Serantau’.

“It will be the first arts and culture event to be held in Tawau this year and will be officiated by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman. Members of the State Cabinet have also been invited to the two-day event.

“We hope such event would attract more tourists to Tawau and enjoy the products offered in the district. The cultural carnival will be listed in the calendar of Sabah events soon,” Ismail pointed out at a press conference here yesterday.

According to him, a variety of activities would be held at the two-day carnival. On January 14, guests and the public would be brought to visit some interesting places in Tawau such as the cocoa museum and the tropical tree.

On the next day, the opening ceremony would be officiated by Assistant Finance Minister Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan at the council field, followed by the community traditional sports games like Batu-lelek, Sambung lutut and Lego.

There will also be handicraft exhibition booths and food stalls. At night, a parade would be held from the council field towards Tawau Municipal Council building through Jalan Dunlop.

Ismail said about 100 participants from each community would take part in the parade. Tawau residents have also been encouraged to join the event. Participants are urged to wear their own traditional costume that night.

Presentations from the different communities would be held in front of the Municipal Council building and there would also be a five-minute fireworks display to spice up the night.

Ismail hoped the tourism sector in Tawau would improve dramatically and a special tourism committee has been set up to monitor and coordinate tourism products in Tawau.