May is full of celebration and music that you might not want to miss. You can enjoy harvest festivals with beauty pageants, jazz music festivals, dragon boats, and Star Wars month! Check out the list below for a run down of these exciting events:
1. World Youth Jazz Festival
This annual festival is back, and this time it features Turkish jazz musician Burhan Ocal, The Frederik Köster Band made up of students from the Music Institut of the Fachhochschule Osnabrück and Japanese band RALYZZDIG. In one weekend, you can enjoy performances by jazz artists from around the world, including Germany, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
Venue: Dataran Merdeka (Merdeka Square)
Date: 6th to 8th May
Tickets: Free entry
World Youth Jazz Festival website
2. Borneo Jazz Festival
There’s more jazz this month with another festival, this time in Sarawak. The Borneo Jazz Festival is one of the major annual music festivals held in Borneo. As always, the festival will be in Miri and will feature jazz musicians from across the globe including The Rad Trads from the US, O Sister! from Spain, Yuichiro Tokuda’s RALYZZDIG from Japan. For two days, jazz enthusiast can enjoy the soulful sounds of these talented musicians.
Venue: Park City Everly Hotel, Miri
Date: 13th and 14th May
Tickets: www.ticketcharge.com.my
3. Wesak Day
In Penang, Wesak day celebrations will be organised by the Malaysian Buddhist Association. In celebration of Buddha’s birthday and achievement of Nirwana, devotees will meditate in temples and perform charitable acts such as providing free vegetarian meals and giving alms. In the evening, there will be a procession of brightly lit floats accompanied by singing and chanting prayers.
Venue: Malaysian Buddhist Association Building, Penang
Date: 21st May
Tickets: Not needed
Malaysian Bddhist Association website
4. Little Mix live in Kuala Lumpur
The Birith girl group formed in 2011 exclusively for The X Factor became the first group to win the competition. Jade, Perrie, Leigh-Anne, and Jesy have since gone on to become the first all-female group since The Pussycat Dolls to reach the US Top 5 with their debut album called DNA. Since then, Little Mix have released two more albums, Salue in 2013 and Weird in 2015. The Get Weird world tour is finally making it’s way to KL.
Venue: KL Live at Life Centre
Date: 21st May 8pm
Tickets: www.ticketpro.com.my
Little Mix Live in KL Facebook event
5. Sabah Dragon Boat Race 2016
Also known as the Duanwu Festival, this dragon boat race is usually held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calender. The festival is held in remembrance of Quan Yu, minister and poet of the ancient state of Chu during the Zhou Dynasty, who committed suicide in the Milou river after 28 years of exile.
The festival honours the spirit of the dragon which is one of uniting and working as a team. Team registrations are closed but spectators can watch as teams row multicoloured boars decorated with impressive dragon heads to the rhythm of the pounding drums. Winners are crowned king for the year, a high honour among the Chinese community in Sabah.
Venue: Likas Bay, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Date: 21st to 22nd May
Tickets: Free for spectators
6. Penang International Dragon Boat Festival
Crews from around the world will participate in this international regatta at the Teluk Bahang Dam. Penang has organised dragon boat races for over 30 years and this festival is an affiliated festival of the International Dragon Boat Federation. There will be 7 competition classes and although registration for crews has closed, you can still attend the festival to enjoy the races and cheer on your favourite team.
Venue: Teluk Bahang Dam, Penang
Date: 28th and 29th May
Tickets: Free for spectators
Penang Dragon Boat Festival website
9. Penang Floral Festival
Every year, this flower extravaganza hosted by the Penang Botanic Gardens draws thousands of visitors from near and far. There will be workshops, contests, exhibitions, and classes on various floral related topics. Myriad of plants, flowers, and gardening equipment will be on sale as well. This event is set to be a picturesque one, so be sure to bring along a camera.
Venue: Penang Botanic Gardens
Date: 28th May to 5th June
Ticket: Free entry
Penang Botanic Gardens website
10. Star Wars Month at Legoland
In a state not so far away, Legoland is embracing the force with a month-long Star Wars celebration as an extension of Star Wars day which is on 4th May. You can explore the Star Wars miniland which has over 2,000 Star Wars LEGO models inspired by scenes from all six original Star Wars movies and the animated series – it was built using 1.5 million LEGO bricks! Families can also enjoy the Star Wars fan gallery, meet LEGO Darth Vader, and witness two LEGO master builders as they build the world’s biggest LEGO model of the Millennium Falcon. How many LEGOs will it take?
Venue: Legoland, Johor
Date: 1st to 31st May
Tickets: Legoland.com
11. Harvest festival celebrations around Sabah
The Ka’amatan (harvest) festival is celebrated as a thanksgiving in honour of Bambaazon (the rice spirit) for a good harvest by the Kadazandusun and Murut communities in Sabah. Throughout the month, there will be various harvest celebrations held around the state leading up to the main event, Tadau Ka’amatan, at the end of the month.
There will be the Harvest Beauty Queen competition, Unduk Ngadau and the singing competition, Sugandoi. Winners at the town level will go on to represent their towns at the state-level celebrations in Kota Kinabalu on 31st May.
Sandakan Harvest Festival
Join in the festivities of the harvest celebrations as the Unduk Ngadau is crowned.
Venue: Sandakan Community Hall
Date: 8th May
Kuala Penyu Harvest Festival
Join in the festivities of the harvest celebrations as the Unduk Ngadau is crowned.
Venue: Kuala Penyu town
Date: 8th May
Pitas Bengkoka Festival 
This celebration will also have a decorative boat competition and an exhibition of traditional houses of the six ethnic tribes found exclusively in Pitas.
Venue: Bengkoka Square, Pitas, Sabah
Date: 13th to 15th May
Kota Belud Harvest Festival
Join in the festivities of the harvest celebrations as the Unduk Ngadau is crowned.
Venue: Dewan Tun Said Kota Belud
Date: 15th May
Tamparuli Harvest Festival
Join in the festivities of the harvest celebrations as the Unduk Ngadau is crowned.
Venue: Tun Hamdan Community Hall, Tamparuli
Date: 18th May
KK Harvest Festival 
This city-level harvest celebration will also include cooking and drinking competitions and local food tasting events.
Venue: Merdeka Field, Kota Kinabalu
Date: 20th and 21st May
Tadau Ka’amatan Celebration
This is the culmination of the month-long harvest celebrations around the state. The highly anticipated final round of the harvest beauty pageant, the Unduk Ngadau, will take place here as well.
Venue: Hongkod Koisaan KDCA, Penampang
Date: 30th to 31st May
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