What is Regatta Lepa?..Regatta Lepa is Water Festival…Lepa means Boat in the dialect of ease coast Baju. The Regatta Lepa in Semporna, Sabah is one of the most colourful cultural event. In this festival, Baju people will decorate their boats with colourful flags. Ths is some information about Regatta Lepa…
LEPA : In Sabah East Coast Bajau community dialect, lepa means “boat”. The elpa boat is a cultural legacy inherited by Bajau people from many generation ago. The existance of lepa is believed to originate from the fishing community who live in Bum Bum Island and used by the Pa’alau people along the coast of Semporna.
One can see the Bajau (Baju Laut) fish on the clear and shallow water of Semporna. They live in boatss on the sea most of their life. Present day, some group have settled on tiny island.
Regatta Lepa has been celebrated every year since 1994 to commemorate thhe Baju Tradition of building these splendid boats. The regatta lepa was first held in 1994 as a district-level event before being upgraded into a state festival. Since 2003, Regatta Lepa became national event in the Malaysia Water Festival.
This is my first experience about Regatta Lepa 2010 while in living in Semporna, Sabah. Here i going to upload some picture that i was shoot, concert Regatta Lepa 2010 perform by number one artist in Malaysia, Datuk Siti Nurhaliza.
