My Experience, World Rainforest Music Festival 09'

The Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF for short) is a unique festival that brings together on the same stage renowned world musicians from all continents and indigenous musicians from the interiors of Borneo.

 
Considering the next RWMF 2010 is just around the corner, I feel it is timely that I share my experiences at the last RWMF, how it was like and some advice to bear in mind. Briefly, this traditional music fiesta is annually held around June or August in the Sarawak Cultural Village, 35 kilometers from the city of  Kuching in Sarawak, Malaysia. The festival lasts 3 days, with musical workshops in the afternoon and concerts at night. Details on WRMF 2010 at the end of the post;

The trip to Kuching, Sarawak was an adventure in itself,  but let's just jump to some pictures shall we?

Tickets were RM90 for a 1 day pass and RM250 for the whole 3 days.

We got to meet people from around the world who gathered here just for this 3 day event. Everyone was being friendly and awesome to each other despite the H1N1 virus outbreak was at its peak! Masks were on at the start but half way through, we didn't care!

There were obviously ALOT of people around, so if you have health distrusts or just want to chill for a bit, its good to know that the concert will also be projected onto a screen for you to enjoy, away from the crowd.

Tip #1 : Belongings in here please! If you're in a group, bring along a bag big enough to keep everyone's stuff in but small enough so not to be a burden (trust me you will feel it with passing hours). Then assign one person to guard it. Rotate guard duty.
 

My bud here posing for a pic with some of the people we met. Michael Jackson's Beat It was included in AkashA(group from Malaysia)'s unforgettable performance on the 3rd (final) night. It was great. The night was filled with awesome performances by local and international acts including from Sabah and Sarawak also the Zawose Family from Africa.
List of artiste from RWMF 2009;

• AkashA  (Malaysia)
• Asika  (Malaysia)
• Dazkarieh  (Portugal)
• Inti-Illimani  (Chile)
• Jeff and Vida band  (US)
• Jouhiorkesteri  (Finland)
• Moana & The Tribe  (New Zealand)
• Muzsikás  (Hungary)
• Oudaden  (Morocco)
• Red Chamber (Canada/China)
• Zawose Family  (Africa)
• Kinabalu Merdu Sound  (Sabah)
• Lan-e Tuyang  (Sarawak)
• Noreum Machi   (Korea)  
• Sekaa Jaya Jenggala  (Indonesia)
• Saint Nicholas Orchestra  (Poland)

Now people were everywhere you see. The ground was wet and muddy from rain the previous day, we were right in the middle so it was chaos all around, people were sweating and jumping taking clothes off singing and clapping and running around. Everything you'd call a good time..

Tip # 2: Wear sandals and bring a spare shirt. It's gonna be dirty.

We secured a perimeter in the middle of the crowd and basically made camp. Safe to say the bottled water (and rice wine) stand was in business. It was like having a personal watering hole to keep us hydrated while the "bartender" was passing vodka shots around. Well not actually vodka, it was local rice wine provided by our Sarawakian friends we met up with when we arrived in Kuching.

Tip # 3: If you plan on getting drunk at the festival, book a hotel near the venue because it's going to be a long drive back to Kuching. The best and nearest option would be the Santubong Kuching Resort.

Having gone through the festival with some magical immunity to fatigue, the hours of cardio, power jumps and the overall physical straining slowly came back to torture. Plus we had to walk another 5 kilometers or so back to the spot our cars were parked, the sweetest thing I could think of was my ricketty bed back at the hotel. Looking back, it was all worth it for the fun filled nights and the amazing finale to RWMF 2009.

Tip #4: Bring and extra pair of sandals for the team. I had a friend who's sandals malfunctioned and had to go barefoot the whole time after.

Being at Rainforest Music Festival 2009 was an experience I will never forget, it was a blast going through everything with my bunch of crazy friends, we even made new ones. This post is just the tip of the ice berg, I could go on and on and on. Anyways, the RWMF experience is something you should definitely want to be apart of, at least once. Check out the next RWMF! I'm probably not going this year but you should! 

Some info on Rainforest Music Festival 2010!

Date :  9th - 11th July 2010
Venue : Sarawak Cultural Village, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Ticket Prices : 1 Day Pass ( RM 110), 3 Day Pass (RM 300)

Looks like ticket prices went up a bit this year. Take my word, Worth It.

For more info on Rainforest Music Festival 2010, visit the official website.