GEORGE TOWN, Aug 14 — The third Butterworth Fringe Festival 2017 (BFF 2017) drew a larger crowd this year despite the wet weather.
It was a sea of umbrellas at the street as well as open-air stage performances that started at 5pm and continued till 11pm on Saturday and Sunday.
There was much laughter as street performers and comedians entertained the crowd with their antics as well as other daring acts.
One street performer in particular — JP Koala — wowed the crowd with his skilful juggling of knives and a medieval axe in between cracking jokes.
He was accompanied by two “assistants”: stuffed koala bears, used as props e.g. when he whipped a cigarette out of the clutches of a koala bear.
Later, another street performer, Diego, had the crowd in stitches with his portrayal of Charlie Chaplin.
A young boy was invited to be his assistant and he got involved in various acts from balloon tricks to flipping his hat from one hand to another.
He even drew Chaplin’s signature thick eyebrows and toothbrush moustache on the boy and gave him a curly wig, a hat as well as along tailed coat to wear throughout the show.
Over at the main stage, performances like the traditional potehi and String Fling, a marionette performance by Frankie, were held on both evenings.
There were also lots of indie merchandise as well as arts and craft on sale at the Roots Street Art Market organised by Lokalhouz Butterworth.
Book lovers were also treated to a Negara Buku Book Market featuring publications by more than 10 independent publishers such as Buku Fixi, Lejen Press and Roman Buku.
Caricature artist and author Mohd Azmi Mohd Hussin of the Little Mamak and Tanjong Life books, also had a stall to draw caricatures for visitors at RM10 each.
An eye-catching art installation at BFF 2017 was The Temple of Colours, by BYG Architects. It is a gigantic cube formed by thousands of filled bottles lit with multi-colours as a representation of the multicultural society of Butterworth.
BFF 2017, supported by Think City, Seberang Perai Municipal Council and the National Department for Culture and Arts, was held in conjunction with George Town Festival 2017 (GTF 2017).
Find out more about GTF 2017 events at georgetownfestival.com.
