If you think Mardi Gras or Oktoberfest are flamboyant and colourful, wait untill you see the spectacular Sabah Fest in the Land Below the Wind, which is an annual event organized by Sabah Tourism Board. Sabah Fest 2009 kicked off on 2 May 2009 and had successfully bedazzled the locals and visitors with its vibrant cultural extravaganza with this year’s theme “Mystical Sabah”.
The fest was a prelude of a month-long celebration in concurrence with the Kaamatan Harvest Festival and the first two days at Magellan Grand Ballroom in Sutera Harbour Resort were mainly showcasing some of Sabah’s ethnic groups through traditional songs and dances combined with a display of rarely seen rituals and scenes of their daily lives. When I was invited to attend the cultural show on the first night, I just could not say “no”. After hearing a lot of remarkable feedbacks from so many people on the Sabah Fest last year, I knew for sure that this was something that I had to witness myself – seeing is believing. Even being a local here, it is still interesting to learn a lot more about other ethnic races and their culture or traditions.
It was interesting how the entrance of the ballroom was set up with bamboos and a group of women fully clad in traditional costumes welcomed visitors with friendly smiles. As I walked down the stairs to the grand ballroom, the walkway was all covered with black cloth to make it looked as if you were entering a cave. “Skulls” were hanging on both sides of the walkway which shifted you back to the era of headhunters – back in the olden days, the Kadazans and Muruts were known as the headhunters and skulls symbolized the warriors’ strength. The more skulls collected the higher the warriors were ranked in their community.
At the ballroom foyer, there were numerous booths exhibited local crafts, traditional games, arts and paintings – basically almost everything was on display – something that never ceased to attract your attention and kept you amazed as you strolled along the foyer. Four young boys were showing off their skills in top spinning or gasing. The gasing is quite big and heavy so it was rare to see young boys spinning the gasing because it requires skills of great dexterity and precise timing. Then, there was a group of young boys and girls demonstrated to the tourists on how to play the popular traditional game called congkak.
Continue reading (incl. pics) at: Mystical Sabah – A Journey of Worthwhile Experience
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