MERDEKA ROCKS WITH GEGARIA
Local stars, fun family activities will give weekend visitors a good time
MORE than 50,000 youths are expected to rock Media Prima’s three-day Gegaria #KitaPunya festival here in conjunction with National Day celebrations.
Media Prima Bhd group managing director Datuk Kamal Khalid said the long weekend was expected to draw many outstation visitors to the mega event, which was held outside the Palace of Justice.
“We initially wanted to hold the festival at a different location, but were advised by Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo hold it here.
“We also wanted to bring back activities to Putrajaya in line with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s goal to make the administrative capital a focus of activities,” said Kamal on the sidelines of the event, which began yesterday.
The hugely successful festival, which had drawn massive crowds during its runs in Kuala Lumpur, Seremban, Ipoh and Sungai Petani, featured the theme #KitaPunya in line with the national day celebrations.
This is the eighth Gegaria festival since January, and the first time it was held over three days.
Music fans could expect a rocking good time, with daily concerts and performances by artistes, such as Faizal Tahir, Wany Hasrita, Stacy, Kugiran Masdo and Misha Omar, and Bunkface.
The event’s ambassadors featured a diverse line-up, including actress Sangeeta Krishnasamy, Hujan lead singer Noh Salleh, Bunkface and evergreen cartoonist Ujang.
Visitors could try out the live make-up demonstrations by YouTube artists, play traditional games and even try their hand in e-sports games.
Apart from fun family activities, visitors had the chance to literally take a walk down memory lane by visiting the #KitaPunya Throwback Tunnel.
The tunnel, an audiovisual exhibition set up by the New Straits Times Press Resource Centre, would take visitors on a journey through the nation’s growth from the 1950s to present day.
It featured pictures taken by NSTP photographers and quotes from local figures.
For information on the festival’s programmes and schedule, log on to Gegaria’s Facebook page “GoGegaria” (www.facebook.com/gogegaria) or Instagram at @gogegaria (www.instagram.com/gogegaria).