KL Deepavali Bazaar 2026: Fees Cut 85% as Brickfields Trading Moves

01 · What changed for 2026

Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s Deepavali bazaar is materially cheaper this year. The Federal Territories announcement dated 21 September says the maximum participation charge is RM400 including the deposit, compared with RM2,626 in 2025. The new total is made up of a RM30 licence fee, RM150 service charge, RM150 site rental and RM70 deposit.

The trading period is also longer: 30 days, from 9 October to 7 November 2026, rather than 21 days last year. That matters to traders because the lower upfront cost comes with nine extra selling days rather than a shorter or cut-down operating window.

02 · Where the bazaar will be

The main Brickfields bazaar is moving away from the traditional Little India roadside stretch. The principal site is the car park at Kompleks Tun Sambanthan, with a second bazaar location at Jalan Bunus 6, off Jalan Masjid India. The change is intended to consolidate trading and make traffic, enforcement and public-safety management easier.

StarMetro reported that this is the first time in more than two decades that the Brickfields bazaar will not be spread along its familiar Little India locations. For regular visitors, that means old assumptions about where the festive stalls sit along Jalan Tun Sambanthan may be wrong this year: check the car-park site rather than simply walking the traditional strip expecting the full bazaar.

03 · Why the lot numbers look inconsistent

There is a genuine published numbers discrepancy, so we are not pretending every report says the same thing. An earlier StarMetro report quoted DBKL as planning 100 Brickfields lots plus 20 at Jalan Bunus 6, or 120 bazaar lots. Later reporting based on the 21 September Federal Territories/DBKL announcement described 172 business spaces for 2026.

RTM gives the most useful breakdown of that later figure: 122 spaces at the Tun Sambanthan Complex car park, 20 at Jalan Bunus 6 and about 30 promotional spaces for business premises. In other words, the larger 172 total appears to include promotional/entertainment licences as well as conventional bazaar trading spaces. If you are applying for a stall, use DBKL’s current application information rather than treating 172 as a promise of 172 ordinary market stalls.

04 · What traders actually pay

The RM400 cap is not just a headline discount. The published breakdown is RM30 for the licence, RM150 service charge, RM150 site rental and a RM70 deposit. Last year’s RM2,626 total included a RM2,000 deposit, so the biggest single reduction is the deposit rather than the licence itself.

Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh explicitly urged traders to deal directly with DBKL and warned against paying middlemen thousands of ringgit for access to a lot. That is an important practical point: RM400 is the official maximum participation charge described by the government. Anyone being asked for a much larger unofficial payment should verify it with DBKL before handing over money.

05 · Hours, goods and traffic

MalaysiaGazette reported the planned bazaar operating hours as 10am to midnight. Earlier DBKL information reported by StarMetro said the Brickfields site would allow dry goods plus food and beverages, while the Jalan Bunus 6 site would be restricted to dry goods. Because detailed licence conditions can change by lot and category, traders should still confirm the conditions attached to their own permit.

Traffic is the other practical issue. DBKL says it has identified alternative routes and plans strict traffic control around Jalan Tun Sambanthan during the bazaar period. Residents and hotel guests in Brickfields should expect a busier month around the Tun Sambanthan complex and allow extra time, especially in the evening and closer to Deepavali.

06 · How the bazaar is being managed

The 2026 bazaar uses a hybrid model: DBKL retains licensing, regulation and enforcement, while recognised associations assist with operations. The participating groups named in the 21 September reporting include PKPPKI, Persatuan Prihatin Peniaga Little India Brickfields, Persatuan Penjaja Medan Selera Pines Bazaar Brickfields and Malaysia Hindu Sangam Wilayah Persekutuan.

Malaysia Hindu Sangam’s involvement is new this year and has been described as a pilot intended to widen access to traders who have not previously participated. DBKL has also said subletting, selling lots on and excessive profiteering are not permitted.

07 · What residents and visitors should take from it

For residents, the big change is spatial as much as financial: the festival bazaar remains in Brickfields, but its centre of gravity moves to the Tun Sambanthan Complex car park. That should make the bazaar easier to locate as one consolidated destination, while also changing pedestrian and vehicle flows around the neighbourhood for a month.

For visitors, this is still a working local festive market rather than a tourist attraction built for cameras. Expect shopping, food, decorations and the pre-Deepavali rush, but also normal city realities — crowds, parking pressure, traffic controls and individual traders operating under DBKL rules. The safest planning move is to recheck DBKL/JWP information close to your visit, particularly if you are travelling specifically for the bazaar.

08 · Sources & verification

The official Federal Territories Department media index lists the 21 September 2026 release, “Bazar Deepavali 2026 Caj Penyertaan Turun 85 Peratus, Kadar Maksimum RM400 Termasuk Cagaran”. We cross-checked the fee breakdown, dates, management model and later space count against RTM’s 21 September report and Bernama reporting carried by Malay Mail.

The relocation and earlier 120-lot figure were checked against StarMetro’s 21 September report. Where those published figures differ, this article states the discrepancy rather than silently choosing one.