Should I put the Hari Raya date on my ad image?

No. Hari Raya is confirmed by moon sighting, so the date can move by a day. Any edit sends an ad back to Meta's review, which is usually done within 24 hours but can take longer. Write "Order before Raya" on the image, and put your own last order day in the post text. That date is yours, so it does not move.

Should I stop my normal ads during a festival?

No. Keep your everyday ads running and add festive ads on top. Your everyday campaign has already learned who buys from you, and it keeps selling when the festival ends.

Festive seasons in Malaysia: what changes in ads

Q: Do festive ads cost more in Malaysia?

Often, but nobody publishes a neutral, checked number for Malaysian festive ad costs. Global data on Meta shows the pattern: Gupta Media's tracker found the cost of 1,000 views in Q4 was 13% higher than in January to September in 2022, and 17% higher in 2023. Measure your own cost for 1,000 views in a normal month, then compare it with your festive weeks.

Every festival in Malaysia brings more shoppers, more ads and higher prices for ad space. The shops that do well are not the loudest. They planned the three things a festival changes, and their ads were running before the rush.

What a festival changes

When people start looking. People research gifts and festive buys weeks before the day. Criteo found an average of 19 days from a shopper's first product visit to the purchase in the last two weeks of Ramadan 2025 (six Southeast Asian markets, Malaysia included). An ad that starts the week of the festival misses most of that.
What people buy. Gifts, food for guests, new clothes, home items, travel. Your product may be the same, but the reason to buy it changes.
The words that fit. A festive ad talks about the occasion: the open house, the reunion dinner, the long weekend. It answers "Will it arrive in time?" before the shopper asks.

The festivals, one by one

Malaysian festive dates in 2027 and what each changes in a Meta ad

Public holiday dates from PublicHolidays.com.my for 2027 (Islamic dates depend on moon sighting), with what shoppers buy and what to change in the ad.
Festival	2027 date	What people buy	What to change in your ad
Chinese New Year	6-7 Feb	Gifts, hampers, cookies, new clothes	Delivery before the reunion dinner, gift sets, ang pao style offers
Ramadan	From about 8 Feb	Food, preparation for Raya, gifts	Calm tone, giving and family, the day's rhythm of sahur and buka puasa
Hari Raya Aidilfitri	About 10-11 Mar	Clothes, cookies, duit raya packets, home items	Open house and balik kampung, order deadlines, no exact date on the image
Merdeka and Malaysia Day	31 Aug and 16 Sep	Local products, travel, long-weekend deals	Local pride, Malaysian colours, one offer across the 17 days
Deepavali	28 Oct	Sweets, clothes, home and decor, gifts	Open house, lights and colour, delivery before the day
Christmas and year end	25 Dec	Gifts, food, year-end treats	Gift guides, last delivery date, the link with 12.12

Ramadan and Hari Raya

Treat this as two parts. During the fasting month, people prepare: they shop for the home, plan outfits and order cookies. The last two weeks before Raya are the peak. Criteo measured Malaysian sales up 26% in the final two weeks of Ramadan 2025. Keep claims honest, especially "halal": our halal ad guide and the lesson on Malaysian ad rules cover what you can say.

Chinese New Year

The real deadline is the delivery date, not the festival. Hampers and gifts must arrive before families travel and sit down to the reunion dinner. Your ad should say the last order day clearly. In 2027, Awal Ramadan is expected on Monday 8 February, right after the CNY weekend, so many shops will run both campaigns at once.

Deepavali

Open houses, sweets, new clothes and home items lead. Deepavali moves each year (8 November in 2026, 28 October in 2027), so check how close it sits to 10.10 and 11.11. The Deepavali playbook has angles and offers.

Merdeka and Malaysia Day

Merdeka (31 August) and Malaysia Day (16 September) make a 17-day stretch. Run one patriotic offer across both. Use the national colours as design, but never change or misuse the flag itself. The Merdeka playbook covers the flag rules.

Christmas and year end

Year-end gifting overlaps with 12.12 and the school holidays. Lead with gift ideas and the last delivery date. More in the year-end and Christmas guide.

What happens to your costs

More brands bid for the same people, so the price of showing your ad goes up. No neutral source publishes a checked Malaysian festive cost, so be careful with numbers you see online. Global data on Meta shows the shape. Gupta Media's tracker found the cost of 1,000 views in Q4 was 13% higher than in January to September in 2022, and 17% higher in 2023. On Cyber Monday 2024, it was US$17.70, against a 2024 average of US$7.43. The Q4 cost guide explains why.

What you can control:

Start early. Views are cheaper before the peak, and you reach shoppers while they are still deciding.
Don't edit at the peak. Meta reviews an edited ad again. Review is usually done within 24 hours, but it can take longer, and you lose those hours.
Know your own baseline. Write down your cost per sale in a normal month, so you can tell if a festive week still makes money.

A worked example

Say you bake pineapple tarts at home in Johor Bahru and sell them online at RM38 a jar. Both CNY and Raya buyers order them in early 2027, so you plan two sets of ads for one product:

CNY: a gift set of 2 jars for RM70, with the line "Order by 30 January to have it before the reunion dinner".
Raya: a box of 3 jars for open house guests for RM105, with "Order before Raya" on the image and the last order date in the post text.

Same tarts, same photos, two different reasons to buy. And because Ramadan starts the day after CNY, both sets are made in January.

Checklist

I know the date of my next festival and my last order day.
I know what my buyers need from me for this festival.
My festive offer is clear and in ringgit.
Moon-sighted dates are not on the image.
My everyday ads keep running.

Your homework

Find out what worked in your category for your next festival last year.

Open the Ad Library in AdPlay.ai.
Search the festival name with your product type, for example "raya cookies" or "cny hamper". Then sort by Longest Running.
Open the ads. Each one shows Published (the day it started) and Run Time (for example "Ran for about 2 months"). Look for last year's dates and note when the festive ads began.
Brands rarely keep paying for an ad that does not sell, so a long run time is a good sign.
On the best one, click Save ad, then New folder, and name the folder after the festival. Save four more into the same folder.

The Ad Library guide shows every search type and filter. Next lesson: mega sale days.