Virtual festivals to further boost national arts, culture - Nancy

She said the various mediums and current technology advancements should be used as a platform to promote the country's traditional arts on the international stage.

"This is crucial to ensure the arts and cultural values continue to thrive among the Malaysian community," she said in her speech when launching the 'Festival Kesenian Rakyat Kelate @ Online 2021' which was streamed live on the National Department for Culture and Arts (JKKN) Facebook Page today.

Nancy said the ministry was committed to continuing efforts to boost the local arts and cultural activities through eight culture-based tourism programmes planned for this year, including the 'Festival Kesenian Rakyat Kelate @ Online 2021'.

She added that the initiative to promote culture-based tourism programmes online was a temporary option currently available for industry players to showcase their products.

Commenting on the 'Festival Kesenian Rakyat Kelate @ Online 2021', Nancy said the event which highlights various arts, cultures and food of Kelantan was initiated in 2017 and in 2018, it managed to attract over 38,000 visitors and generate returns of RM70,000.

In 2019, the festival attracted over 55,000 visitors with more than RM116,000 in returns during the two days of its organisation.

She said this year, the festival returned virtually to enliven the local arts and culture industry with a unique collection of Kelantanese arts after it was halted last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nancy said based on the previous records, five popular tourist attractions in Kelantan were the Siti Khadijah Market, Wakaf Che Yeh Market, Pengkalan Kubor duty-free zone, Dataran Kota Sultan Ismail Petra and Istana Jahar due to their own traditional uniqueness.