Rainforest World Music Festival Preview Show at Taylor's University

This preview show will be staged at Taylor's University, Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya from  25th-26th June 2013, 6.30pm-11pm. Entry is free.

These are the bands who will be showcasing their music.

Dizu Plaatjies & The Ibuyambo Ensemble from South Africa 

Sub-Saharan African music. Painted warriors, female dancers, traditional music played on handmade instruments. Exulted voices, wonderful instrumental textures and thrilling percussion. His album “African Kings” won Best Alternative African Album at the SAMA awards 2009.

MOHSEN SHARIFIAN & THE LIAN BAND (IRAN)

Regarded as Iran’s most prestigious folklore music band. They play Boushehri music that is the amalgamation of centuries of social, cultural, religious melting pots in Iran. They have received 7 awards for performance of Ney-Anban, 3 Best Music titles, 3 Best Singer titles and 3 awards for Best Percussion from Iran.

The two bands will be supported by local acts. Head on over to the Preview Facebook page to find out more.

This smart partnership enables students from 2 different schools of the University; ( School of Tourism, Event and Recreation and School of Business Communication) to have a practical experience of their classroom theories - Live Event Module from School of Tourism, Event and Recreation  For Sarawak Tourism Board, this is an extension of the Board's internship programme.

Sarawak Malaysia Borneo...where adventures lives

A Quick Take of Rainforest World Music Festival 2013 Bands

We have created a short write-up for each of the twenty-one (21) bands performing at this year's Music Festival. They are not listed in any order.

BAND	About The Band
MADEEH (Sarawak, Malaysia)	Bidayuh traditional roots music on hand-made bamboo instruments and drums Music like it has been in the jungles of Borneo for centuries.
RAFLY WA SAJA (Indonesia)	The unique voice of Aceh and Rafly combined with some of the top musicians from Jakarta A fitting performance on the 10th anniversary of the earthquake and resulting  tsunami in Sumatra.
MOHSEN SHARIFIAN & THE LIAN BAND (Iran)	Regarded as Iran’s most prestigious folklore music band. They play Boushehri music that is the amalgamation of centuries of social, cultural, religious melting pots in Iran. They have received 7 awards for performance of Ney-Anban, 3 Best Music titles, 3 Best Singer titles, 3 awards for Best Percussion from Iran.
JUK WAN EMANG (Sarawak, Malaysia) <Picture not available>	The rare and dying art of the nose flute of Sarawak. This is the instrument used for courtship among the Kayan people. Juk Wan Emang is 71 years old and comes from the interior of the Rainforests.
NUNUKUL YUGGERA (Australia)	Traditional Aboriginie song and dance troupe Their performances portray their unique lifestyle, religions and tribal legends in their performances. They have been called the Australian answer to the New Zealand Haka.
SHANGYIN CHINESE CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLE (Sarawak, Malaysia)	Winner of 2013 at Shanghai Folk Music Orchestra Showcase Sarawak flavor and Malaysian folk music interwoven with Chinese traditional instruments.
HABADEKUK (Denmark)	Powerful horns, toe-tapping fiddle and contagious rhythms One of Denmark’s leading folk bands that uses old folk melodies in 21st century presentation. Their CD “Hopsadaddy” was awarded “Album of the Year” at Danish Music Award Folk 2011 Their fiddle player Kristian Bugge was awarded “Folk Artist of the year” at Danish Music Award Folk 2011 Nominated as best live act of the year for Danish Music Awards 2012
NATIVE CHANTING (Sarawak, Malaysia)	Oral blessings from the different indigenous tribes of Sarawak – the Bidayuh, the Iban, the Orang Ulu, the Melanau.
DIZU PLAATZIES & THE IBUYAMBO ENSEMBLE (South Africa)	Sub-Saharan African music. Painted warriors, female dancers, traditional music played on handmade instruments. Exulted voices, wonderful instrumental textures and thrilling percussion His album “African Kings” won Best Alternative African Album at the SAMA awards 2009
SPIRITUAL SEASONS (Ukraine)	Medieval, Irish and Scandinavian folk band from Kharkov, Ukraine.
MAYA GREEN (Sarawak, Malaysia)	Dato Medan Abdullah on the legendary boat lute of Sarawak – the sape.
RHYTHM IN BRONZE (Malaysia)	Gongs and gamelans. A mix of traditional instruments with contemporary compositions. “Best Music Concert” award in the World Music category at the 2004 BOH Cameronian Arts Awards. Following this, Wujud Antara, received three BOH Cameronian Arts Awards in 2005, for “Best Group performance – Instrumental”, “Best Group performance – Voice” and “Best Musical Direction” (Sunetra Fernando and Jillian Ooi) in the Music category.
PINE LEAF BOYS (USA)	Cajun and Creole band from Southern Louisiana 4 times Grammy nominated. Ancient songs and dances revived and brought to the stage with wild exuberance and energetic performances. Their accordion player, Wilson Savoy, just won a Grammy 2013
CHET NUNETA (France)	Vocal polyphonies + polyrhythms They sing  transcontinental  traditional songs accompanied by mostly percussion
LAN E TUYANG (Sarawak, Malaysia)	The very well known musician, artist and instrument maker, Matthew Ngau, with traditional Orang Ulu music on the beautiful boat lute of Sarawak, the sape, accompanied by percussion and a dancer.
REY VALLENATO BETO JAMAICA (Colombia)	Fiesta dance music of Colombia. Beto Jamaica was the winner of the Valleneto Competition 2006-2007
KRIES (Croatia)	Traditional Croatian chants – very dark, very mystic – fused into wild ethno rock.
GEMA SLDN-SARAWAK CULTURAL VILLAGE (Sarawak, Malaysia)	A collection of different percussion instruments of Sarawak – drums, gongs, bamboo.
KILA (Ireland)	Songs based on gorgeous traditional Irish melodies. Percussive like singing and driving rhythms They have supplied and composed music for a number of films, TV, theatre Shortlisted Choice Music Prize, 2008 Nominee in Meteor Irish Music awards, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,2007, 2008 2002 Meteor Irish Music Industry Award  - Best Trad Act Hot Press Readers Choice Awards - Best Trad Act - 2003, 2004, 2007
ALP BORA (Turkey)	Music from Turkey and the Balkans. A mix of eastern and western colours.
PALSANDAE (Korean)	Korean traditional music with acrobatic and dance woven into the performance. The show includes shamanic prayer songs, pansori and pangut performances.

To find out when the groups are performing, this is the link to the evening showtimes

The Rainforest World Music Festival is organised by the Sarawak Tourism Board.

The Rainforest World Music Festival wins the Brand Laureate - Country Brand Awards 2012/2013

This award is as much a recognition for Malaysia as it is for those who have worked and developed this iconic world music festival over the past sixteen years. The festival goers who arrive in the thousands from all over the world each year deserve a mention. The partners and sponsors who contributed in-kind and cash sponsorship are also part of the festival's success story. And not forgetting the Sarawak government which has provided policy and financial support all these years.

For those at Sarawak Tourism Board, past and present, for all the hard work and challenges, there is a quiet sense of gratefulness and achievement.

The Brand Laureate - Country Brand Awards for Events is the culmination of all these efforts. And on this note, this year, the festival has also been awarded the SONGLiNES 25 Best International Festivals for the fourth year running.

Ben Fogle's Sarawak Adventure - Fairy Cave and Seafood

Ben's adventure video took him to a 3-million year old cave and an unexpected seafood haven for a place.

The rock in Fairy cave was formed during the Jurassic period and one has to climb a 4-storey high staircase tower to get to the entrance of the cave. The cave area, located 42-km from the city of Kuching near a town called Bau is also a popular rock climbing venue.

After the day is done, Ben walks up a flight of stairs, 6-level up (rest assured that lifts are available) to arrive at a seafood haven appropriately known as 'Top Spot Seafood'. Fresh local catches and vegetables are generously displayed for cooking of your choice.

This is the fourth in a video series of Ben Fogle's Sarawak adventure.

For more of Sarawak, please visit Sarawak Tourism Board's official website

Bisaya Buffalo Race Festival in Limbang Sarawak

The buffalo race festival, also known locally as 'Pesta Babulang', is significant to the Bisaya community in Limbang. The Bisaya is one of the twenty-seven ethnic groups of Sarawak.

This year’s Pesta Babulang 2013 will be held at Batu Danau, Limbang from June 7-9. As always, it will highlight the many facets of Bisaya unique culture, traditional foods and local handicrafts to visitors.

The highlight of the festival is the buffalo race involving teams from Limbang, Sabah and Brunei trying to outrace each other riding on bare buffalo back.

'Kuntul berhias' (decorated float)

Another highlight of the festival is ‘Ratu Babulang’ that draws many Bisaya lasses to vie for this annual beauty crown.

Community Feast - one of the local delicacies of this northern region of Sarawak is 'Pulut Wajik' as can seen in their green banana wrapping on the platters. 

'Pulut Wajik' - sweet and melts-in-your-mouth food. It is made from millet and flavoured with palm sugar

This three-day celebration includes various activities such as cultural performances, cooking contest, beauty pageant, handicrafts exhibition and lucky draws.

Here is the programme details.

This annual festival is organised by the Bisaya Association and it also serves to promote the tourism industry of the Limbang Division.

How to get there?
MASWings currently operating daily flights from Miri to Limbang. To reach the venue, visitor can take a taxi from Limbang town which costs RM50 one-way and takes about 45 minutes to reach Batu Danau. Visitor who travel from Brunei will easily find the site as it is only 15 minutes drive from the border of Tedungan.