By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Aug 29: The Kuching Food Festival (KFF) 2026 attracted 1,011,067 visitors over its 26-day run, crossing the one-million mark despite recording a lower overall turnout than last year.
Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng described the achievement as another feat for the festival, which has grown into one of Kuching’s major annual events.
Speaking during his ShallWeeTalk live session today, Wee said the final attendance figure showed that KFF continued to draw strong interest from locals and visitors despite weather challenges during the festival.
“Fortunately, we surpassed one million mark. The visitor numbers were counted from July 22 throughout the 26-day festival.
“The highest single-day attendance was recorded on the Sunday of the festival’s first weekend, when 76,225 visitors were recorded. Visitors had already begun arriving from around 3pm that day, contributing to the festival’s highest daily turnout,” he explained.
Even on the festival’s lowest-attendance day, when the city experienced heavy rain and strong winds followed by haze condition, KFF still attracted 14,648 visitors.
The festival’s continued appeal, he said, was reflected not only in the number of visitors but also in the diverse range of food and offerings introduced this year.
Wee said MBKS had received considerable feedback from visitors, including positive responses to the increased availability of vegetarian food and halal offerings from indigenous communities.
“This kind of feedback is exactly what we need,” he said.
He said the council would continue reviewing the festival’s food offerings with the aim of eventually having 400 stalls offering different types of food.
Wee acknowledged that achieving such diversity would be challenging, as several stalls sometimes offered similar dishes prepared in different ways.
He cited the example of a stall selling plain white rice, which he said initially appeared unusual but ultimately stood out as a creative concept.
“The operator explained that the rice could be paired with dishes such as braised pork and roast pork, catering to customers who preferred plain rice with their meals. Such unconventional ideas demonstrated the creativity that MBKS wanted to encourage through the festival,” he emphasised.
Beyond the food and visitor numbers, Wee said KFF also generated contributions for charity, with stall operators raising more than RM70,000 this year.
One stall alone contributed RM20,000, while an indigenous operator selling satay raised RM2,000 for charity.
Wee said the festival’s success should therefore not be measured solely by its commercial returns, but also by the benefits it generated for the wider community.
He stressed that this was among the reasons MBKS continued to manage the festival rather than handing it over entirely to private operators.
“Building a brand is not easy,” Wee said, noting that KFF had taken decades of effort, sweat and sacrifice to establish as a recognised Kuching brand.
He said MBKS would continue working to preserve the festival’s quality and reputation while improving it in the years ahead. — DayakDaily
