Kagape - Harvest festival comes to Kajang

The Holy Family Church Kajang celebrated the Kagape which is the short form of the various names of the harvest festival in Sabah, Sarawak and Indonesia. The name is taken from Kaamatan (Sabah), Gawai (Sarawak) and Penin (Indonesia). This is hosted at the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese level.

This year, the celebration was held on Sunday, 10 July 2011. The festival started with a Community Mass at 10am followed by a whole day of celebration.

The Guests of Honor for the day was His Grace Archbishop Murphy Pakiam and Kajang Assemblyman YB Lee Kim Sin (Cikgu Lee).

A number of activities were held during the day which included cultural dances and shows. There were also a number of performances by various groups. An exhibition area to highlight the culture of Sabah and Sarawak was also put up.

Many stalls were set up serving traditional food from Sabah, Sarawak and Indonesia as well as local favorites.

A lucky draw was also held and for the young, many games and activities for the young were also held.

A notice board showing the various activities for the day

An exhibition area

Some of the cultural exhibits

Another view of the exhibition area

Games for the young

Children enjoyed the various games available

A view of the stage (not so clear)

Some of the crowd

Crowd watching the activities on stage

Another view of the stage and crowd

Stall selling food and souvenirs

All types of delicious food

Stall selling religious items

Drinks stall

Refreshing ice kacang stall

It was also very heartening to see many people turning up in their traditional costumes. The attendance of quite large and the place was busy almost the whole day. It was a celebration for those from Sabah, Sarawak and Indonesia. At least they were able to celebrate this important festival away from home. The large attendance by the local community was also very encouraging as it was also an eye opener for many and the chance to celebrate together with those from Sabah, Sarawak and Indonesia.

Kudos to the organisers who had worked really hard to make this a success.

Until the next time, cheers.