The Festival of Sports (Pesta Sukan) which was started on a modest scale in 1964 has since become an annual event coinciding with the annual National Day celebrations in August.

The Pesta Sukan is held not only to develop sports locally but to provide local sportsmen the chance to measure themselves against their counterparts from neighbouring countries and to foster international understanding, friendship and goodwill.

The Pesta Sukan has attracted competitors from Indonesia, Malaysia, Republic of China, Thailand, Philippines, South Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Ceylon, India, New Zealand, U.S.A., Britain, Cambodia, Burma and Macau. In 1969 of the total of 3231 participants in Pesta Sukan events, nearly 1,000 were from foreign countries.

With the encouraging response from Sports Organisations and the public and with growing regional and international interest and participation in a wide variety of sporting events, the Pesta Sukan has improved in stature and popularity over the years and the event has become a sort of an annual little Olympics for this part of the world, where competitors can get-together in friendly and healthy rivalry.