KUCHING: Exotic music will resound at the Sarawak Cultural Village in the beach resort of Damai at the foot of Mount Santubong for the ninth edition of the Rainforest World Music Festival in July.
Sixteen groups will perform.
Eleven of these are from abroad. They are from Kyrgyzstan (Tengir Too); France (Les Yeux Noirs); Turkey (Aynur); Austria (Hotel Palindrone); the Latin American countries of Panama and Colombia (Calle Sur); Canada (Genticorum); the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar (Kilema); the west African country of Mali (Nahawa Doumbia); Mongolia (Egschiglen); and South Korea (Chungmyung Art Group).
Two of the five local groups are the Malaysian Dhol Federation group of the Sikh community, who will showcase their Bhangra drums, and the Yap Ting Percussion Ensemble from here.
All the participants are making their first appearance in the July 7-9 festival.
The festival had gained worldwide recognition, Sarawak’s Urban Development and Tourism Minister, Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh, said yesterday.
"It is Sarawak’s event of the year," he said. "From a humble beginning in 1998 attracting a mere 500 people for the three-day festival, it has grown to one attracting over 8,000 a night."
The success has won the festival this year’s Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) gold award in the Heritage and Culture category, but it has also given organisers a few headaches.
Wong said the number attending the festival last year was too large for organisers to handle.
This year, the crowd will be limited to 7,000 people a night.
Tickets for the festival will go on sale at the Visitors Information Centre here and at the Sarawak Centre in Jalan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur.
Courtesy of New Straits Times
No comments:
Post a Comment