THE festive season may have been over, but it didn?t matter to an 8,000-strong crowd who turned up at SP Setia Bhd Group?s Chinese New Year celebration at Setia Pearl Island in Penang.

As early as 6pm, the crowd began pouring in for the open-air street party held at the Isle of Conifer residential area in the residential scheme in Bayan Lepas.

They were greeted by clowns, God of Prosperity, Fook Lok Sau (Three Stars of Blessings), walking magicians and fire-eaters.

Several hawker stalls were set up for visitors to fill their tummies, just in time to catch the rip-roaring opening act by an award-winning lion dance troupe from Gertak Sanggul.

It was a marvellous sight as the main ?alpha? lion pranced about atop two-metre high stilts, with a sea of people gazing on in amazement from below.

Ten smaller lions circled the area, swaying to the beat of drums and cymbals as the alpha lion performed its stunts.

This was followed by a spellbinding mask, costume changing and magic performance by the brother and sister team of Jorinn and Gelvinn Chee.

They had everyone gawking in amazement at their magical sleight of hand.

The highlight of the night was provided by Cirque Shanghai ? an acrobatic troupe specially brought in from China.

Starting off with cultural dance routines with a touch of acrobatics, they moved on to full-fledged acrobatic displays in the latter half of their show.

Twirling around while suspended on rings and fabric, spinning plates atop metal rods and showcasing their flexibility, the acrobats had the crowd erupting in appreciative applause.

According to SP Setia property (north) general manager S. Rajoo, they had initially wanted to hold the bash within the 15 days of Chinese New Year, but with so many events running concurrently, they then decided to hold it on Sunday to give the public an ?extended? festive season.

It was the fifth year in a row that the company had held such an event, Rajoo said, adding that they spent RM250,000 for this year?s party.

?The festive celebration is our way of saying thank you to our purchasers, as well as allowing our staff to get to know them better,? he said.

Rajoo estimated that half of the crowd were purchasers of SP Setia?s properties, while the other half were walk-in members of the public.

The group also took the opportunity to offer a special promotion for its Setia Pearl Island semi-detached housing project ? Juniper, Aura and Caria ? where purchasers pay only 2% and nothing more until completion.

The company will also absorb the costs for stamp duty, legal fees and loan agreement and memorandum of transfer during the promotion, which will end either end of this month or next month.

Rajoo said they planned to launch their Pearl Villas, which he described as the group?s ?best homes? in the development, in the third quarter of this year.

Priced at an estimated RM3mil onwards with built-up areas of 5,700 sq ft, the four-storey villas are expected to be completed in 2013.

SOURCE: The Star