Rainforest festival on a high note<\/p>\n
Tan Hee Hui, Contributor, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia<\/p>\n
For various reasons, most Malaysian-organized music festivals
\nseldom see overwhelming turnouts.<\/p>\n
The exception is the Sarawak Tourism Board-organized
\nRainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), which is now attracting
\ncrowds that run into the five digits.<\/p>\n
Already in its eighth year, the RWMF has come a long way.<\/p>\n
During its first and second years, only about 400 people
\nattended the festival. The setup -- from the sound system to the
\nstage setting -- was pretty basic back then.<\/p>\n
The turnouts got bigger over the years and now it is a popular
\ninternational music and tourism event.<\/p>\n
As in previous years, the three-day festival this year was
\nheld at the Sarawak Cultural Village in picturesque Santubong, a
\none-hour drive from Kuching, the capital of Sarawak (Malaysia
\nBorneo).<\/p>\n
The festival is a celebration of musical and cultural
\ndiversity.<\/p>\n
This year, 12 foreign acts (who came from as far as Colombia
\nand Mongolia) and four Malaysian acts performed for 5,000 people
\non the first day, 8,000 on the second day and 7,000 on the third
\nday.<\/p>\n
The crowds were a good mix of foreign tourists and Malaysians,
\nincluding many veterans from previous festivals.<\/p>\n
Due to some problems with overcrowding last year, organizers
\ncapped attendance at 8,000 a day.<\/p>\n
There were numerous highlights during the festival, which was
\ndivided into daytime workshops and night concerts.<\/p>\n
The festival's visitors included hippies, eccentrics of all
\ntypes and the chic and the beautiful. They took part in workshops
\nheld each day at the different Sarawakian ethnic houses scattered
\naround the village.<\/p>\n
The workshops were casual, basic, impromptu and people-
\ncentric. Moreover, they allowed visitors to get up close with the
\nmusicians and performers, who provided insights into their music,
\ncultures and traditions.<\/p>\n
Some visitors even got to play native musical instruments,
\nsome with long traditions passed down through the generations.<\/p>\n
The workshops also had their humorous moments. Among them was
\nwhen The Foghorn Stringband from the U.S. provided a taste of
\ntheir early bluegrass music and taught the audience how to square
\ndance.<\/p>\n
Particularly lively and physical were Ivory Coast's eight-
\nmember group Yelemba D'Abidjan, who rocked the house.<\/p>\n
Their strong movements and funky traditional music were
\nhypnotic. Audience members were still shouting for an encore long
\nafter the show had ended.<\/p>\n
The music and dancing of Italy's four-member Acquaragia Drom
\nfeatured numerous influences, but still created a distinct
\ntraditional Gypsy flavor in their performances.<\/p>\n
When violinist Erasmo Treglia and Jew's harp-player Elia
\nCiricillo performed a mock fight-dance sequence, the testosterone
\nsoared in the house. Their machismo shone through their nifty, at
\ntimes goofy, moves.<\/p>\n
The workshops, loosely deconstructed notes, rhythms, melodies
\nand beats in unplugged sessions, proved more intimately
\nentertaining than the proper, carefully choreographed nighttime
\nconcerts.<\/p>\n
Mellow traditional music filled the air on the first night of
\nthe festival.<\/p>\n
Belize's Florencio Mess and the Maya K'ekchi' Strings'
\norganic, harp-driven music was lushly melancholic.<\/p>\n
Their melodious music was deemed subversive in their home
\ncountry when a strong Christian movement thrived there.<\/p>\n
The group gave a heartfelt performance, in their spirit of
\npreserving Mayan culture and music for future generations.<\/p>\n
Poland's six-member Shannon came on later to rock the crowd
\nwith their Celtic-tinged music combined with Polish cultural
\ninfluences.<\/p>\n
There was some irony in the performance, mostly from Polish
\nMarcin Ruminski's admirably skillful playing of the imminently
\nScottish bagpipe, which he played like he stole.<\/p>\n
The second night, Pakistan's Faiz Ali Faiz, together with
\neight musicians, performed ethereal qaw-wali music characterized
\nby strong insistent voices, with a small backing chorus,
\nclapping hands and propulsive percussion. The performance was
\nsoul-stirring and emotionally tumultuous.<\/p>\n
On the third night, The Foghorn Stringband only had to make a
\npassing mention about their music being appropriate for square
\ndancing, before some of the audience shot up and began kicking up
\ntheir heels.<\/p>\n
Every year the festival's finale is highly anticipated, but
\nfor some reason it lacked energy and a spontaneous kick this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
The coming together of all the musicians and performers to jam
\nonstage was overly choreographed, unlike previous years where
\nthis final jam bowled over audiences with its earthiness.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the festival succeeded in entertaining and left
\nthe audience wanting more.<\/p>\n
Box
\nComing back for more<\/p>\n
The RWMF is known for attracting repeat attendees, and this
\nyear was no exception. Here's what several repeat visitors had to
\nsay about this year's festival.<\/p>\n
"I attend the festival mostly for the company of people. The
\nlineup of acts also matter and they are different each year, so
\nit exposes you to different types of music. I'd attend the
\nfestival next year; doing so is like an annual pilgrimage for
\nme." -- Joyce Lim (from Malaysia), quality assurance analyst.<\/p>\n
"The festival is different each year. I love the performers
\nwho come from around the world, their diversity and their
\ncombination of old and new musical instruments and music. This
\nyear, the festival is well-organized with better lighted walkways
\naround the village. I'd absolutely return to the festival again
\n-- money permitted." -- Jill Turley (from New Zealand),
\njournalist<\/p>\n
"In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, heck around the Southeast Asia
\nregion, there's nothing like it. The festival's headliners are
\nworld class. However, this year's acts performed more mellow than
\nupbeat music, unlike what I heard when I attended the festival
\ntwo years ago. Regardless, this year's acts are good. I'd attend
\nthe festival next year and after as well, because it has good
\nvibes." -- Dylan Ong (from Malaysia), conservationist.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rainforest-festival-on-a-high-note-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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