Ipoh Dou Mu Gong, 斗母宫, runs its 2026 Nine Emperor Gods festival, 九皇大帝千秋宝诞, from 9 Oct to 19 Oct, lunar 8/29 to 9/10. Temple chairman Chen Mengli, 陈孟利, deputy Wu Tianfu, 伍添福, and secretary Zhu Yunnan, 朱允楠, announced the dates with the board. The food calendar starts earlier. Red tortoise buns, 红龟包, go on sale from 5 Oct at the temple gate, and this year the welcome-the-gods rite, 接神, moves to the Kinta riverfront on Jalan Sultan Idris Shah, beside Paloh Shui Yue Gong, 坝罗水月宫.
As of Friday 16 Oct the riverside 接神 and the 14 Oct palanquin walk have already run. Ang ku stalls still sell through 18 Oct. Fire-walking is 18 Oct, 5pm to 7pm. Send-off is 19 Oct at 5am. If you are going this weekend, that is the remaining list.
Where to buy ang ku kueh, and what it costs
China Press walked the stalls on 3 Oct. Vendors said flour and filling have ticked up a little, but the standard red tortoise bun stays RM5 a pair, same as last year. Special flavours cost more. Stalls keep selling through lunar 9/9, which falls on 18 Oct.
At Dou Mu Gong itself, two long-running names share the forecourt.
- Wu Feng, 五丰. Owner Xue Qunli, 薛群丽, told China Press the stall opens Monday 5 Oct from 4pm. She told Sin Chew the first trays come out around 3pm, then the stall runs twenty-four hours until 18 Oct. About twenty staff this year. Standard tortoise bun RM5 a pair. Longevity peaches, 寿桃, RM2 each. Coconut toddy, coffee, and wholewheat buns RM6.50 a pair on the Sin Chew list.
- Sen Feng, 森峰. Owner Lei Guofeng, 雷国峰, opens Tuesday 6 Oct after 2pm. From 7 Oct the stall also runs around the clock until lunar 9/9. About fifty staff. Standard bun RM5 a pair. Millet, coconut sugar, and coffee versions sit at RM6 to RM7, he told China Press. He said some ingredients rose in price and the standard pair did not.
Two more Ipoh stops sit off the Dou Mu Gong forecourt.
- Hu Fu Ji, 胡福记, at Menglembu Dong Tian Gong, 兵如港东天宫. Owner Hu Zhengjie, 胡政杰, sells from Wednesday 7 Oct, 6am to 11pm, through lunar 9/9. RM5 a pair, unchanged.
- Coconut toddy tortoise bun at Falim San Huang Gong, 万里望三皇宫. Vice-chairman Ye Jianguo, 叶建国, said queues start 11am on 7 Oct and sales start at noon. RM8 a pair. The dough needs natural fermentation, so a dry, sunny morning helps the bake.
If you only have one morning, Falim is the one that sells out on a timetable. Dou Mu Gong is the one you can walk at 2am.
New welcome route on the Kinta
The temple's own briefing, carried by Sin Chew, Oriental Daily, Nanyang, and Kwong Wah, is the schedule to trust. This year 接神 leaves the old street pattern and gathers on Jalan Sultan Idris Shah, still called Belfield Street by older Ipoh families, at the Kinta riverbank next to Paloh Shui Yue Gong. Chen Mengli asked devotees to follow marshals and watch the traffic on that stretch. Wu Tianfu said the rest of the rite list stays: welcome and send-off, raising the betel-nut tree and high lantern, fire-walking, the dragon bridge, and memorial rites for deceased vegetarian members.
The hall also hosts a Nine Emperor Gods birthday bazaar, 九皇大帝千秋宝诞庆典展销会, through the ten festival days. Sin Chew photographed the hall on 9 Oct, the morning Chen's board raised the 51-chi betel-nut tree and high lantern. Zhu Yunnan said Dou Mu Gong is running the bazaar with EV plan marketing. He also told the paper to wear a mask if the haze is bad, and that rites go on anyway.
The 14 Oct palanquin walk
Sin Chew, 15 Oct, reported the night that was still listed as "11pm welcome of the sacred palanquin" on the printed programme. At 11pm on 14 Oct the temple went back to the same Belfield riverbank, beside Paloh Shui Yue Gong, to bring the palanquin home. Eighteen teams walked. Kampar Sheng Fo Temple, 金宝圣佛庙, sent the mechanical horse lantern float that Malaysia Book of Records lists as the largest electronic horse of its kind. Perak Xiang Sheng lion and dragon, 霹雳祥胜龙狮艺, sent a 168-chi dragon. Chen Mengli read the memorial text on the bank. The temple supplied the photographs.
That walk is over. What is left is food at the gate, opera overnight through 18 Oct, Qingshui Zushi tonight if you trust the board, the vegetarian members' meeting on 17 Oct at 9pm, fire-walking on 18 Oct from 5pm to 7pm, the dragon bridge at 11pm that same night, and send-off at 5am on 19 Oct.
Rites and opera, night by night
Sin Chew and Kwong Wah printed the same temple programme. Oriental Daily's write-up of the same briefing puts Qingshui Zushi on 16 Oct at 7pm. The Sin Chew table lists 11pm. Use the board at the temple that evening.
- 3 to 4 Oct. Xingxiu opera troupe, 星秀歌剧团, two nights.
- 5 Oct. Tianhong song-and-music studio, 天虹歌乐艺坊.
- 6 Oct. Nanhai Cantonese opera, 南海粤剧社.
- 7 Oct. Manjoi Yinyun Cantonese opera, 万里望音韵粤剧社.
- 8 to 9 Oct. Yineng Entertainment, 艺能娱乐制作, two nights.
- 9 Oct, lunar 8/29. 7am party leaves to collect the betel-nut tree. 1pm the tree and high lantern go up. 11pm welcome of the main Nine Emperor urn and Lingguan Dadi, 灵官大帝. This is also the new riverside 接神 night.
- 10 to 18 Oct. Overnight opera by Qingyan Cantonese troupe, 请言粤剧团, lunar 9/1 to 9/9.
- 11 Oct. 11pm welcome of the deputy urn and Marshal Li, 李府元帅.
- 13 Oct. 9am to 2pm election of the 2027 to 2029 board.
- 14 Oct. 10am memorial for deceased vegetarian friends. 11pm palanquin walk to the Kinta bank, with the Kampar horse float and the 168-chi dragon. Done.
- 16 Oct. Welcome of Qingshui Zushi, 清水祖师, and Xueshan Tongzi, 雪山童子. Oriental Daily 7pm, Sin Chew 11pm.
- 17 Oct. 9pm vegetarian members' meeting, 斋友大会.
- 18 Oct, lunar 9/9. 5pm to 7pm fire-walking, 过火焰山. 11pm dragon bridge for luck, 过龙桥补运.
- 19 Oct, lunar 9/10. 5am send-off of the Nine Emperor Gods.
Kwong Wah also lists earlier temple work already done: releasing the spirit soldiers on 12 Sep and offering to them on 26 Sep. Those dates have passed. They sit here so the ten-day run is not read as the whole year.
Bring cash. Stalls at the gate do not behave like a mall food court. Vegetarian food is the default inside the festival, and many devotees keep a meat-free stretch through lunar 9/1 to 9/9 even if they only come for buns. Parking around Jalan Tokong tightens once opera starts at night. The new 接神 point is a short hop from Old Town, on the same river the Coffee Vibes stalls used in September, so if you already know that bank you already know the turning.
Practical Details
- Festival dates: 9 Oct to 19 Oct 2026, lunar 8/29 to 9/10. Ang ku stalls 5 Oct to 18 Oct.
- Still ahead as of 16 Oct: 18 Oct fire-walking 5pm to 7pm, dragon bridge 11pm. 19 Oct send-off 5am.
- Temple: Ipoh Dou Mu Gong, 12 Jalan Tokong, Taman Hoover, 31650 Ipoh, Perak. Phone 05-241 4042.
- New 接神 site: Jalan Sultan Idris Shah, Kinta riverfront, beside Paloh Shui Yue Gong.
- Other food sites: Dong Tian Gong, Menglembu. San Huang Gong, Falim.
- Prices: Standard ang ku RM5 a pair. Sen Feng specials RM6 to RM7. Wu Feng coconut toddy, coffee, wholewheat RM6.50 a pair. Longevity peach RM2. Falim coconut toddy bun RM8 a pair.
- Transit: KTM Ipoh station, then a short taxi or Grab to Taman Hoover. Falim and Menglembu sit west of Old Town along the Falim / Menglembu road.
- Coverage: Sin Chew temple briefing, Sin Chew 14 Oct palanquin walk, Sin Chew high lantern, Oriental Daily programme, China Press ang ku stall report, Nanyang new 接神 route.
