KUCHING: The Kuching Festival 2026 is expected to attract 1.3 million visitors over its 26-night run, underscoring its significance as one of Sarawak’s biggest community events and a major driver of tourism, entrepreneurship and international ties.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian said the festival’s scale, with an estimated 100,000 visitors over two nights, demonstrated its strong appeal and provided extensive exposure for businesses and the city.
“Very simple. One hundred thousand people in two nights, over 26 nights. How many people? The exposure is 1.3 million,” he said when officiating the Pesta Ria 2026 in conjunction with Kuching Festival at Panggung MBKS here on Friday (Jul 24).
Dr Sim said the annual festival had evolved beyond a food fair into an important platform showcasing Kuching and Sarawak to the world through its network of friendship cities.
He said the Kuching South City Council’s (MBKS) long-standing bilateral ties with its friendship cities had helped elevate Kuching’s international profile, citing the naming of a street as ‘Kuching South’ in Guro, Seoul, South Korea, in 2022 as a testament to the success of those partnerships.
“I want to congratulate MBKS for bringing all the friendship cities here. Otherwise, how do you get a street called Kuching South in Seoul, Korea? It is because of these bilateral friendship city relationships,” he said.
Welcoming representative of State from Guro City this year, Dr Sim said the festival was an opportunity to showcase Sarawak’s renowned hospitality while strengthening international cooperation.
He also described the festival as a unique platform for nurturing entrepreneurship, noting that many food stall operators were professionals, including lawyers, consultants and architects, who participated annually to share their culinary talents with the public.
University students from institutions such as Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) also used the festival as practical entrepreneurship training, he added.
“And this is the best example of street entrepreneurship in training and they test if they do well then they go and open a shop. So this is practical training, entrepreneurship training at work, real action, not just theoretical actions,” he said.
Dr Sim added that the festival had also helped many online food businesses gain wider recognition after participating in the event.
He thanked Kuching residents for their patience with the heavy traffic and fully booked hotels during the festival, saying the overwhelming response reflected strong public support and contributed to Sarawak’s tourism industry and community spirit.
He also expressed appreciation to the business community and sponsors for working closely with the government and the private sector to make the annual festival a success.
