>The festival won the Pacific Asia Travel Associations' Gold Award in 2006. It has also been acknowledged as one of the top 10 music festivals in the world by World Music Expo (Womex).
This year, it will be held from July 11 to 13 at the Sarawak Cultural Village with the picturesque Mount Santubong as the backdrop. This place is a 45-minute drive from Kuching.
Fifteen groups, including from overseas, will be performing this year. As such, festival-goers can expect a myriad genre of world music, ranging from Celtic fusion, Socca, folk, Baul fusion and the traditional.
Cholo Valderamma will come all the way from Colombia
The performers include those from the United Kingdom, United States, Gambia/Guinea, the Philippines, Palestine, Greece, Portugal, Congo, Japan, Columbia, Brazil and India.
The foreign bands were selected from more than 450 applications submitted to the RMWF organising committee. Confirmed performers include Ross Daly Quartet from Greece, Kasai Masai (Congo/UK), Hiroshi Motofuji (Japan), Oikyataan (India), Cholo Valderamma (Colombia), New Rope String Band (UK), Yakande (Gambia/Guinea), Pinikpikan (the Philippines), Adel Salameh (Palestine), Beltaine (Poland), Sheldon Blackman and The Love Circle (Trinidad & Tobago) and Fadomorse (Portugal).
Malaysian performers will include Sarawak's Kan'id, Orchestra Anak Jati Bisaya and Sarawak Cultural Village.
The festival format remains as in previous years with musical workshops in the afternoon and open-air concerts at night.
To infuse more excitement into this year's festival, two side events will be held. They are the Folk Art Forum and the Rainforest World Craft Bazaar 2008. The bazaar, from July 9 to July 15, will include a craft-making workshop, exhibition and sale of crafts.
Master craftsmen from various countries, including from Sarawak, will showcase their unique crafts at the bazaar. Details on the bazaar can be obtained by emailing to crafthub@gmail.com or muheidi@pc.jaring.my.
The art forum, with the theme "Our Culture, Our People", will highlight the works of renowned local and international artists. It will be held from July 9 to 11 at the Orang Ulu House at the Sarawak Cultural Village and is targeted at students and art enthusiasts.
Kasai Masai with its members from Congo and UK.
Tickets to the RWMF are priced at RM90 per day for adults and RM45 for children aged 3 to 12. A three-day pass is also available at RM250 for adults and RM100 for children. Tickets are available online at www.ticketcharge.com.my.
The first 500 persons who buy two three-day passes will each be entitled to a free copy of the soft cover version of the RWMF anniversary book. Entitled Music Without Borders - The Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak, this 508-page book, worth RM125 per copy, depicts the chronology of the festival since its inception in 1998.
Organised by the Sarawak Tourism Board, the festival is one of Malaysia's best tourism icons and has been listed under the events promoted by Tourism Malaysia worldwide.
The festival is also supported by the Ministry of Tourism, and Ministry of Urban Development and Tourism, Sarawak.
Details and updates on the festival are available at www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com. -NST
