Page 114 - The Guide To Sarawak

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THE ARTS
The colourful finale of the Rainforest World Music Festival 2014, with over 100 musicians from more than 20 bands and ensembles performing together on the main stage.
Music - Events & Festivals
Concerts and recitals are held throughout the year
in major cities and towns, based on popular demand. They range from folkloric troupes to international
rock and pop stadium acts and everything in between. In addition, there are three major annual music festivals in Sarawak - the Rainforest World Music Festival, Borneo Jazz and the Borneo Cultural Festival.
Rainforest World Music Festival
The Rainforest World Music Festival was first held in 1997, to enable local musicians
to perform alongside
top international world music artists. The event
has grown and developed into a 3-day music festival celebrating the diversity
of world music, held every year over the first or second weekend in July at the Sarawak Cultural Village near Kuching (see page
134). It features daytime music workshops, cultural displays, craft displays, and headlining performances on the main stage. It is one of the largest musical events in Malaysia with total weekend attendance of over 20,000. The festival features a wide range of performances, from traditional music to world fusion and contemporary world music. Invited performers are prominent artists from Sarawak, other
provinces of Malaysia, surrounding countries, and from around the world.
Over 300 local and international acts have performed at the festival from every inhabited continent - Black Umfolosi from Zimbawe, Peatbog Faeries from Scotland,
Te Vaka from New
Zealand, Silverio Pessoa from Brazil, Tarika from Madagascar, Joey Ayala from the Philippines, and Huun Huur Tu from Tuva, Russia. It won the PATA Gold Award (2006), The Aseanta Excellence Award (2009) and has been hailed as one of the World’s Top 25 International Festivals by Songlines world music magazine for the last five years (2010-14).