SARAWAK’S world-famous music festival, the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), is finally making its much-awaited physical comeback after two years following the onset of the Covid-19 epidemic.

State Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said “it’s one moment I have been waiting for” when he announced today the RWMF would take place June 17-19.

“I am happy to announce that the most awaited international music festival in Malaysia, the Rainforest World Music Festival is back and this time, it is a very special one as we celebrate the festival’s 25th anniversary since it started in 1998 with the theme ‘25th legendary rainforest celebration’,” as he rolled out ticket sales and named Malaysia Airlines the official airline partner.

The music festival returns with a “new” event organiser, “a lot of new things” and most importantly, as a hybrid event, with both physical and virtual attendees.

Those who are able make it to the physical concerts will again make a beeline to the Sarawak Cultural Village while those who could not due to Covid-19 travel restrictions can view the event via an online viewing platform which would be launched at a later date.

Karim said last year’s RWMF virtual experience had 402,865 viewers from 79 countries.

It was free but this year, there is a price to pay with the virtual tickets priced at RM25.

“A hybrid concept is the best way to go to further extend RWMF’s visibility on the global stage. This year, we hope to be able to reach out to a greater number of audiences from more countries compared to last year.”

He said on the cards are international performers from Canada, India, USA, Finland, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, China, Bhutan and South Korea.

Award-winning singer and musician Alena Murang heads a list of local talent that include Kemada, Sang Rawi, At Adau, Tuku Kame, Suk Binie, Nading Rhapsody and the state’s best known sape player Mathew Ngau.

The state’s most experienced music event organiser, Gracie Geikie, is also making a comeback of sorts when she was handed the task to organise the RWMF comeback event after a 13-year break.

The former Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer was the event organiser from 2005 to 2009.

Gracie was the founder and organiser of the Miri Country Music Festival which is now into its eighth year, and her experience includes organising the Borneo jazz fest (BJF) and the Penang World Music Festival.

Her conference and festivals organiser company, Place Borneo Sdn Bhd, was awarded the right to organise last year’s virtual eRWMF and BJF.

Place Borneo also managed the Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival for three years from 2017 to 2019.

Like all the events, the movement control order (MCO) to curb the spread of the Covid-19 brought the waterfront jazz festival to a screeching halt.

Karim said as epidemic standard operating procedure (SOP) is still in place, the organisers have set the crowd limit to 5,000 on each of the three nights.

Early bird ticket sales for both the physical and virtual concerts will go on sale on at rwmf.net next Monday.

For the physical concert, the adult one-day pass is priced at RM150, adult three-day pass is RM375, child (under 12) one-day pass (RM80), child three-day pass (RM155) and one-day family package pass for two adults and two children costs RM400. – April 13, 2022.