Rainforest World Music Festival 2017
2017 marks the 20th Anniversary for the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF)! Located at Sarawak Cultural Village, Sarawak, East Malaysia. The festival is an amazing experience – so many artists from all over the globe all performing in the rain-forest! So much to see, listen, touch and feel but so little time!!!! It runs for a 3 day weekend starting on Friday, but unfortunately due to timing, I could only make it for Day 2, Saturday. (Tickets are super easy to purchase online, 132.70 MYR including the booking fee for a 1 day pass, of course early bird tickets are cheaper as is the 3 Day pass ticket. If you book plan early enough, you can also stay at the Cultural Village, it is after all a living museum.)
The Journey
It’s a 1 hour bus ride to the village from Kuching City. Views are spectacular once you are out of the city. Luckily festival goers can jump on a return shuttle from the city centre at designated pickup points. If you are lucky, there is a select number of free return shuttle tix per day. Cost of the actual shuttle is only 15 MYR each way! There is however a block-out from 5.30-10.30pm on return rides from the village, yes there a no rides back out and the only option is to try and call a car!
The Cultural Village
At the RWMF… markets are a plenty and it provides great insights into local life with all the different tribes – food, handicrafts, local ways that have been passed on for generations. This includes pepper, honey, aromatherapy, jewellery, arts and crafts and tasty treats. I was lucky to spot some really rare tribes people as well as some of the younger generations.
Local odd-bots, henna tattoos, baskets from the local regions, art… lots of tattoo artists who did some amazing work and traditional folk costumes to buy as well as hands on educational music sessions – take a spin on some drums, or a local string instrument. And of course some sweet treats!
And the food was amazing…. Got my hands on some tasty Catfish, a first and may be a not a last time for me!
Performances
The line up was a dime and a dozen – international artists from around the globe as well as local tribal groups. Absolutely loved SPIRO from the UK and also Dom Flemons from the southwest! SPIRO is an awesome band which fuses folk, punk, modern and traditional instruments. Dom absolutely blows your socks off… co-founder of the grammy award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, a man with many talents on many instruments.
There’s a few big performance stages as well as smaller concerts in the traditional houses and outdoor areas. Strumming the beats of different regions…
^Click to see these guys move the crowd – Drumming it out
As night fell, At Adau, certainly moved the crowds – a traditional but modern Sarawak Sape band. They started with an awesome dedication to women globally. At Adau’s music with a twist, is modern, funky and just get’s you in the party beat!
All was fun, until it bucketed it down and rained cats and dogs, how very fitting being in Sawarak and a rainforest.
Rain rain go away…. It is the RAIN forest after all…. I did get soaked head to toe, you could wring the water out of my clothes. Puddles formed, crowds shifted indoors for a while then back out again and then it stormed some more! hahahaha
In true traditional Asia o’clock, my uber ride (yes uber, even though GRAB was the sponsors!) was running on Kuching time and due to an unfortunate natural accident with a tree falling over the road ( one road in, one road out). Super late by 90 minutes and no buses leaving with the long drive home, I didn’t get back in til 2am….. no hanging out with orung-u-tans this trip or Bako National Park… just more small walking adventures around town to check out some Kuching Sites! Click here to find out more…