|
It’s just a matter of days now to the long-awaited Rainforest World
Music Festival.
July 8th, 9th and 10th are the dates to block off in your diary if you
have not yet done so.
The organizer of the festival, the Sarawak Tourism Board, has laid down
all the ground work preparation of bringing in 17 different acts to the
two stages at the Sarawak Cultural Village.
There will be bands from Colombia, Australia, Italy, Pakistan, Buryatia,
Ivory Coast, United States of America, Algeria, Iran and Kurdestan, Thailand,
Pakistan, Poland, Belize and Malaysia.
The festival will be in 2 parts – afternoon workshops and evening
shows. Day passes of RM60 each (RM30 for children aged 3 – 12) will
gain you access to both. The festival was so overwhelmed by so many people
in the audience last year that the tickets this year has been limited
to a certain number for each day.
If you have not purchased your tickets yet, it might be wise to contact
the Visitor Information Centres in Kuching, Sibu and Miri, or the Sarawak
Tourism Board at 082-423600. If there are ticket returns, they will be
on sale at the gate, but rather than running the risk of disappointment,
get your tickets early.
Rooms at all the hotels in the Santubong area seem to be fully booked
from months ago. You can still try to see if there are any returns. If
not, stay in Kuching and take the RWMF shuttles up to the festival. These
shuttles would be stopping at strategic points around the city. Schedules
will be in the local press or at the website www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com
There are also advantages in this – it would take away parking worries,
and on the return ride back to town, one would be able to bask in the
memory of the day’s music in peace without having to concentrate
on driving.
For those still driving up – do be courteous and avoid blocking
the already narrow road leading to the Cultural Village. Better still
– car pool and save not having to park too far away from the site.
There will be police personnel assisting with the parking up at the festival
so do ask for assistance if you need it.
Festival security will be set up to ensure that there will be safety and
comfort for all festival goers.
Wristbands will be strapped to each person’s wrist when they surrender
their ticket at the entrance. Do not lose or remove these tags till the
day is over. This will keep you from being mistakenly led out of the festival
site and missing valuable time with your friends and the bands, by the
security teams.
Food and drink stalls will be plenty at the festival so personal culinary
items are not encouraged so as to lighten your backpacks so one could
more about freely.
The workshops are staggered over the afternoons – some starting
at 2 pm and ending about 5 pm. They will be held at four locations scattered
round the Village so be prepared to do a mini treasure hunt going about
looking for your favourite bands. So the lighter your load, the more fun
you will have.
Hard core festival fans usually have a few essentials – mats, foldable
chairs, raincoat, hat, sun-block and mosquito repellant.
Once at the Village, get hold of a programme that will give you all the
information as to the times and venues of the activities and shows so
you can work out your itinerary. There are several workshops overlapping,
so you wouldn’t want to miss anything by accident. There will be
signs posted around the site and there are also friendly officials around
to help.
These workshops are very informal and friendly. Some are even interactive
ones so put aside all reservations and join in with gusto.
This IS the tropics and many of the activities will be outdoors. So casual
cool cottons and linens and sensible footwear would be the things to have
on. In the past few years, the fun and exotic fashion seen at the festival
could be an event by itself.
If all reports are correct, there are many people (other than the musicians)
flying into Kuching for the festival, so be prepared to be in a very global
environment. Everyone is a new friend in the making. And once the music
starts, everyone is family.
Evening concerts will start at 7.30 pm when dusk has deepened and magic
lights have been switched on. Go early to try and get a good vantage point.
There are 2 stages set up with a flatter area in the centre and more undulating
slopes along the sides. Those who want to lie down and survey the stars
and have room to spread out their picnic blankets are better off on higher
ground. Stage centre and front are usually magnet points for the movers
and the shakers.
Many people stake out their territories long before the shows begin. Simple
respect and courtesy will ensure good feelings all around.
Each night, there will be 8 to 9 bands performing. The programme has been
structured so that it will hopefully be an aural globe trotting experience.
From Belize to Iran. From Malaysia to Poland. Fly from Thailand to Buryatia
and then all the way around the world to Colombia. Pakistan will be neighbours
with America. And so the music goes. There is no point trying to make
sedate sense of it. Just go with the flow.
And if you need a break from the onslaught of so much music, there are
handicraft stalls where you could find gay pareos or cool bandanas and
souvenier T-shirts. Look out for CD outlets where you could take memories
of the bands heard at the festival home with you.
This is the Rainforest World Music Festival’s 8th year. It has grown
in many ways since the first event where there were only about 300 people
in the audience but the organizers are trying to keep it still intimate
and protocol-free, to preserve the simple charm and the honest happy feelings
that the festival seems to be known for.
Journalist Antares once called it “the party of the year”.
We like to think that too.
Yeoh Jun Lin
Artistic Director
Rainforest World Music Festival
| 
