20th Rainforest World Music Festival At WOMEX 2016

Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) is presenting the 20th installment of its annual event, the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) in World Music Expo (WOMEX) in Santiago de Compostela, Spain from October 20-23.

The RWMF will be celebrating its 20th edition next year at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Damai, on the 14-16 July, with plans on making the Festival celebration bigger than ever.

With the interactive afternoon workshops, the audience has the opportunity to learn, understand and play the indigenous musical instruments from the performers during the day and later on witness and appreciate its beauty during the nightly performances.

As a supporter of all ethnic arts, including the culinary arts, festival-goers are able to taste a variety of local and fusion cuisine from the Village Food Mart.

They will also be able to buy local beaded, woven, painted or carved handicrafts or witness their creation, or even get a traditional hand-tap tattoo at the nearby Tattoo Expo.

The festival, one of its kind in the region, has attracted over 20,000 returning foreign and domestic attendees and has been awarded Songlines’ Top 25 Best International Festivals award six years in a row since 2010.

Datuk Haji Abdul Wahab Bin Aziz, Chairman of Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) said, “We want to stage the uniqueness of world music by bringing in performers from other parts of the world and also to showcase our own ethnic music and to provide them with an opportunity to perform amidst international bands.”

“More innovative ideas are already in the works for our coming 20th Rainforest World Music Festival next year.” said Angelina Bateman, Director of Events & Corporate Relations of Sarawak Tourism Board (STB).

While the performance plans remain a surprise, the Board’s efforts in publicising the Festival are not, with promotions happening at various tourism and travel trade fairs around the world such as ITB Asia in Singapore, World Travel Mart in London, Taipei International Travel Fair in Taiwan and the Asian MICE Forum in Taiwan.

The Festival encourages the appreciation of ethnic art and music from around the world, as well as new interpretations and integration of those arts within modern expression, and it is now brining these values to the world stage.

Updates on the Festival as well as tickets can be found online at the Rainforest World Music Festival official website, www.rwmf.net.

This event is supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak (MTAC) and endorsed by Tourism Malaysia with Malaysia Airlines Berhad as the presenting sponsor.