The Colours of 1 Malaysia festival, which was held on May 25th, 2013 at Dataran Mederka, Kuala Lumpur, is hard to describe in words. Founded in 1999 to reflect and celebrate the cultural, racial, sexual, and economic diversity of Malaysia, the event has become an enormous parade, complete with thousands of dancers, costumes, floats, props, and waving hand-clappers for the audience members. This year, I–along with the rest of the international group I’m traveling with–had the enormous honor of attending this event, and while I tend to fall asleep at most parades, I didn’t find myself fidgeting until the ninth segment about three hours in (which was, by the way, a segment highlighting Malaysia’s shopping–complete with dancers dressed as price tags waving signs with discount stickers on them). To their credit, though, I’d definitely never seen shopping done so artistically before.

So, to truly honor this bonanza of international proportions, I thought I’d let my photos do the work for me. Enjoy the colorful brightness that is Malaysia.

A special thanks to Tourism Malaysia and AEROMEET 2013 for graciously hosting me on this trip. All photographs are the author’s own.