SEBERANG PERAI, Aug 14 — The usually-quiet enclave of Jalan Jeti Lama, Lorong Tokong and Jalan Pasar in old town Butterworth was an explosion of activity at this year’s Butterworth Fringe Festival (BFF).
Held for the second time in conjunction with the George Town Festival (GTF), this year’s events saw international street performers wowing the crowd with local acts in between.
The evening started with a monologue Jual Ubat dari Stesen ke Stesen directed and performed by multi-award winning actor Khalid Salleh.
Later, Dynamike, the knife juggling wonder, had the crowd in stitches as he cracked jokes during his 40-minute act which included juggling knives, balancing a camera on a monopod on his lips and riding a three-metre high unicycle while juggling the knives.
Another street performer, Anthony Livingspace, pulled out a bagful of tricks; props like a frying pan was used to create funny, slapstick acts that had the crowd laughing.
Other than the street performers, there were also art exhibitions including wall murals in abandoned buildings and at several exhibitions spaces to showcase the masterpieces by local and international artists.
In one of the old buildings, a special sculpture and mural installation by Thomas Powell tells of the culture and history of old town Butterworth that used to be a fishing village with a fishing jetty nearby.
Poignant murals of fishermen adorn some of the crumbling walls while fishes are spotted around the floor in the project called Bounties of the sea.
Alongside the murals is the Doorway to Penang project where old wooden doors are painted with traditional scenes of a fishmonger and another, a kavadi bearer.
Hidden in an alleyway is a realistic wire sculpture of a monkey, hanging from a tree growing on the side of the building while in one of the shophouses, a unique interactive art installation, Kata-Kata 2010, attracts people with its glittering words hanging down from the ceiling.
The evening culminated in a spectacular fire show by Miguel & Nelly Into The Fire where the couple twirled and flipped burning batons.
The Butterworth Fringe Festival is a two-day event so more performances have been lined up for this evening (August 14).
Find out more about the programmes of events at BFF or GTF, go to georgetownfestival.com.
