Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Music lovers can visit Rainforest World Music Festival for an enchanting experience


KUCHING: Thousands of music lovers travel across the globe to Sarawak every year in mid July to attend a unique world music festival.

It is like an annual pilgrimage for these music lovers who come to attend the Rainforest World Music Festival, which has been voted by Songlines, a renowned world music magazine for three consecutive years as the top 25 international festivals.

“This annual event, now in its 15th year, is organised by the Sarawak Tourism Board and is a 3-day celebration of daytime music workshops and action-packed nightly shows. The event this year will be held from July 13 to 15,” said a statement issued by Sarawak Tourism Board (STB).

Under the imposing shadow of Mount Santubong, and in the midst of a virgin rainforest at the edge of the South China Sea, the Rainforest World Music Festival is a unique festival that brings together on the stage renowned world musicians from all continents and indigenous musicians from the interior of the mythical island of Borneo.

The kinship and spirit among music makers and music lovers alike as they celebrate one another in the cradle of Mother Nature is unique to the green haven where thousand-year-old trees reign.

The three-day event, beginning at 2pm everyday features workshops that allow festival-goers to interact with the musicians and experience the music and dance of the different cultures up close.

The nights consist of five-hour concerts that take place on a main stage and smaller ‘Tree Stage’ that carries on past midnight.

Night-time concerts are held on a stage built by the lake, under the open sky and in an informal ambiance, where visitors can sit on the grass lawns and dance to entrancing world beats.

The festival culminates in a huge finale on the final night, where all performers are invited to play onstage as one.

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