Durian Cendol, Huge Congkak, And 11 Best Things That Happened At Gegaria Fest Setia Alam

Despite the slight drizzle, the colourful festival saw a huge turnout on Saturday, 13 January! The outdoor festival organised by Media Prima was held at the Setia City Convention Centre in Shah Alam from 8am till 11pm. 

But don't worry if you missed it - Gegaria will be held in two other locations this February! We'll give you the deets at the end of the story.

You could spot the festival from afar because of the bright colours used for their various art installations. There was a huge #GoGegaria sign at the entrance, set in between two feature walls - one made from antique wooden doors and shutters, the other from repainted wooden pallets.

Our favourite was the Biskotin piece, which featured tins of biscuits and cookies we're used to seeing in the kedai runcits.

We started the day with a zumba session hosted by instructor Jessica Ong. Together, we danced to the hottest local songs, Billboard top listers, and even Bollywood tunes. We were told that the JB zumba session will be hosted by Hanif Shawn, a really popular instructor.

There was also a lucky draw for people who joined the zumba session. Last weekend, Gegaria Fest gave away Suunto watches that are worth RM1,299 each!

You can sign up for the JB zumba session here.

There were 10 food trucks at the festival, and they're all from some of the most famous restaurants in the area. Burger lovers flocked to Burger Tajima, known for their juicy chicken grill burger; those who preferred heavier meals went for Nasi Lemak Tanglin or the well known char koay teow basah from Mie Cord. 

The fresh mango juice from Jus Botak Mangga Putrajaya and the fruit milkshakes from Mat Utara Ice Blended were also a hit with festival-goers!

It was soooo good it deserves its own section on this list! The durian cendol food truck at Gegaria Shah Alam was the one from that stall that went viral last year. It was probably the most popular dessert at the festival!

Each cup comes loaded with two pieces of durian. The cendol was super flavourful and satisfying. You didn’t even need to eat the durian because you could taste it in each sip!

Look at that chunk of durian! Definitely worth it!

There was a Community container at Gegaria Fest offering services like creating i-Akauns for EPF members, dental checkup, a blood donation drive, and even a free health screening. This is a free service that everyone can sign up for. 

MyGameOn eSports Zone was probably the most exciting area at Gegaria, with VR games and an ongoing FIFA Online 3 tournament by Garena. 

Everyone could have a go at both games for free. On top of that, the eSport tournament had a RM10,000 prize pool to be won. Gegaria Fest will continue its Malaysian tour as the event brings Arena of Valor (AOV) tournament to Johor. 

Besides having an eSports booth, Gegaria also had a few game stations to play tribute to classic, traditional games like congkak, baling selipar, lompat getah, and more. Everyone was welcomed to play and if you needed an extra ‘gaming partner’, you could ask one of the friendly Gegaria crew members to join the game too!

We loved it that Gegaria had a vibrant yet meaningful mix of evergreen things we grew up and current modern-day trends. We had a soft spot for the Throwback Tunnel, a container-turned-interactive-gallery of NSTP News and Image Bank with archived photos from the 50s till the early 2000s.

It’s specially curated by the guys at New Straits Times Press from AdStudio, celebrating the achievements of Malaysians in sports, science, and in the entertainment industry.

Local actors and YouTubers were invited for a series of sharing sessions at Gegaria, which was held at the event's Lifestyle stage. We heard what Elfira Loy had to say about social media responsibility; The Ming Thing and Faizdickie were there to share about how they turned their passion into a career; while singer Noh Salleh and bike enthusiast Pa'din Musa talked about music and fashion.

Anyone in the crowd could ask questions, so it was like an open forum where you could hear directly from the pros.

Marianne Tan and Brandon Ho, the lead actors from 'By My Side', had a sharing and meet + greet session at the festival. Fans could ask them questions about the movie, their interests, and even take selfies with them. 

The future is here. All the food trucks allow for cashless transaction via the Boost app. You didn’t have to worry if you had no cash on you. Just download the app, top up any amount you want with your debit or credit card, scan the QR code at the truck, and pay!

Anyone who downloaded the Boost app at Gegaria automatically had RM10 to redeem on the spot! #score

Local graffiti artist, Akid One, was invited to do a live graffiti session at the event. It was an amazing experience to be able to see one of Malaysia's top graffiti artists at work. Festival-goers could see the whole drawing process from start to finish for a whole five to six hours!

Gegaria ended on a high note with an evening concert, which had a really epic line-up. The first act was De Fam, followed by Noh Salleh, Kugiran Masdo, Akim & the Majistret, and finally closed with Bunkface. 

Check out the crowd!

Gegaria will be bringing great food, non-stop fun, and amazing performances all over again in February! They’ll first be heading south to JB, and ending the journey at Kuantan in February 2018. Here are the event details:

Gegaria JB
Date: 3 February 2018
Venue: Angsana Johor Bahru Mall

Gegaria Kuantan
Date: 24 February 2018
Venue: Stadium Daruk Makmur, Carpark

Both events will start at 8am and end at 11pm. Ajak your friends, go with an empty stomach to savour all the good food, and have fun!