PUTRAJAYA, April 19 (Bernama) -- The 11th edition of the Putrajaya Ramadan Festival 2023 (FRP 2023) has so far recorded 600,000 visitors, exceeding the target of 500,000 for the month-long festival.

Director of the Licensing Division, City Services Department of the Putrajaya Corporation (PPj) Jeffri Mustapa said the FRP, an annual event organised by PPj,  started on March 22 and will close on April 21.

The festival, themed “Seindah Ramadan, Harmoni Lebaran”, has two components, namely the Ramadan Bazaar and the Aidilfitri Sale which are aimed at making Putrajaya a one-stop center for selling iftar food and Aidilfitri essentials.

"Alhamdulillah, with the response so far, PPj is confident of attracting more visitors this year.

"This encouraging response is evident with the number of patrons arriving even on weekdays,  and even more on weekends. Many of them converge to the Ramadan Bazaar, the Aidilfitri Sale at the Syawal Anjung and the Laman Iftar area," he said when met by Bernama.

For this year’s FRP,  PPj features a new element at the Ramadan Bazaar with the setting up of four Mini Ramadan Bazaars at the parking lot, Taman Seri Empangan, Precinct 5, involving the participation of 11 traders; Public Market parking area, Precinct 8 (12 traders); the site in front of PPj Depot, Precinct 9 (45 traders) and the Precinct 14 night market site (145 traders).

A total of 290 traders participated in the Ramadan Bazaar at Precinct 3, he said.

"This Mini Ramadan Bazaar is opened following the overwhelming response from traders. We received 500 applications. So we decided to open a bazaar at another location to give the traders, who were previously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, an opportunity to increase their income," he said.

He said the opening of the Ramadan Mini Bazaar provided an alternative option for the residents of Putrajaya, other than the Ramadan Bazaar at Precinct 3.

Jeffri said the Ramadan Mini Bazaar also attracted residents from outside the Putrajaya area.

To ensure cleanliness and hygiene at FRP2023,  he said more than 100 personnel were tasked with monitoring the compliance of traders to the stipulated regulations daily.

Regarding the Aidilfitri sale at Anjung Syawal, which is located in front of PPj, he said it had been agreed that business operations there be extended until 2 am on April 12 to 18 and until 5 am on the last three nights of Ramadan, which are on April 19 to 21.

"This is to give the public the opportunity for last-minute Aidilfitri shopping,” he said.

Regarding tPPj’s planning for FRP next year, Jeffri said PPj will improve various facilities, increase the location of the Ramadan Bazaar and Mini Ramadan Bazaar, as well as intensify promotional activities through cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) to attract foreign tourists.

"We want to also attract foreign tourists to visit the next edition of FRP. We want them to experience the excitement of Ramadan and the excitement of visitors shopping in preparation for Aildilfitri," he added.

Last year's edition of FRP managed to attract more than 500,000 visitors with gross sales of RM3 million.

-- BERNAMA