MHLife 2026 occupies Dataran Karnival in Seksyen 13 from Friday, 23 October through Sunday, 25 October. Doors on the official page are 10.00am to 10.00pm each day. Admission is free. The Islamic Tourism Centre, an agency under MOTAC, is running it as part of Islamic Tourism Month 2026, with visitor names already being taken at mhlife.com.my.
The stadium bowl is gone. Demolition finished in 2025. Dataran Karnival is the remaining carnival pad at Jalan Lontar Peluru 13/39, 40100 Shah Alam. Kompleks Sukan Shah Alam is a 2029 rebuild. Navigate to the pad. The grandstand you remember from FA Cup nights is not there to lean on.
ITC director-general Mohammad Faisal Abu Suaib Khan briefed Bernama at the 24 September pre-launch. The target is 300,000 visitors and 250 exhibitors. About 30 percent of those booths were confirmed that afternoon. Malay Mail ran the same numbers. The Malaysian Reserve printed the theme as Rasa, Gaya, Warisan, with the English line Taste Malaysia, Wear Malaysia, Experience Malaysia.
That briefing was at Istana Budaya in Kuala Lumpur. MOTAC deputy secretary-general (Tourism) Chua Choon Hwa officiated. ITC signed a memorandum with the Malaysian Association of Hotels on the same stage. The photographs here are from that morning, shot on phones for The Malaysian Reserve. The festival site's own stills are promotional composites. They are not pictures of Seksyen 13.
What sits on the pad
mhlife.com.my splits the ground into four zones. Halal Food Village is the queue. ITC and TMR both describe 16 food pavilions for the 13 states and three federal territories, with live cooking. Read that as a state-food map, not 16 full restaurants. JAKIM-certified packaged lines sit next to gerai and trucks. Bring a card and some cash. Outdoor card machines in Shah Alam still drop when the crowd peaks.
Modest Wear Bazaar is baju kurung, hijab, sportswear, and halal beauty. Cultural Experiences is batik, songket, prayer goods, and the tourism desks. Entertainment Arena is listed as tech vendors on the exhibitor map. For a visitor, the night is the music, not the POS booths.
Harmony Night Concert is named in The Malaysian Reserve and in the Jabatan Penerangan roundup as local contemporary and traditional acts. The festival homepage instead says Cultural Night and Buskers. Until a set-list is posted, treat evening music as on the pad. Mohammad Faisal told Bernama that Mak Yong, the UNESCO-listed form, will be among the draws, with JKKN lining up state troupes. If Mak Yong is the reason you are coming, refresh the official page on Thursday, 22 October. Malaysian festival run-of-show pages often go live the night before.
Faisal's line to TMR was blunt: the point is to show a halal lifestyle that includes fashion, travel, heritage, and wellness, with food as one room among several. That is the brief. On the ground it will still smell like sate and kuih by 11am.
How to use a free Friday-to-Sunday
Friday is the lightest day if the air stays clear. Saturday night is the crush. Sunday afternoon is families. Hours do not change. Pre-register if you want a shot at the first 1,000 tote bags. Those are handed out on the day, first come, first served. They are not posted to your house.
A male and female surau with wudhu is listed, plus first aid and an info desk. October in Seksyen 13 is still hot at 4pm. Use the desk if someone overheats. Shade is tents, not a stadium roof.
LRT3 made this pocket usable. Stadium Shah Alam station is the closer stop for Jalan Lontar Peluru. Shah Alam station in Seksyen 14 is the next one along, then a short Grab. KTM Shah Alam is further. If you drive, the organiser copy talks about ample parking on the carnival ground. After SUKMA and the Dataran Kemerdekaan races this year, treat that as a hope. Overflow onto Persiaran Sukan and the Section 13 sports lots, then walk in. The old stadium car parks went with the bowl.
Haze already cancelled Shah Alam Hari Tanpa Kenderaan on 11 October, and other MBSA outdoor programmes that weekend. MHLife is outdoor. If the API climbs back into the unhealthy band, watch mhlife.com.my and ITC channels on Thursday night. Food under canvas can still run in light haze. A night concert on an open pad is the first thing to slip.
Vendors book through sales@mhlife.com.my. Visitors walk in. If you already spent a weekend at Setia City Convention Centre for ACE or Pakar Pertanian this month, this is the other October date: free state food and a night on the carnival ground, twelve minutes from the mosque and the lake.
Practical Details
- Dates: Friday 23 October to Sunday 25 October 2026.
- Time: 10.00am to 10.00pm daily.
- Venue: Dataran Karnival, Stadium Shah Alam, Jalan Lontar Peluru 13/39, Seksyen 13, 40100 Shah Alam, Selangor.
- Nearest LRT: Stadium Shah Alam on the LRT3 Shah Alam Line. Shah Alam station in Seksyen 14 is the next stop.
- Price: Free. Pre-register at mhlife.com.my. First 1,000 registered visitors are listed for a tote bag on the day.
- Website: MHLife 2026 official site
