This no-frills festival where some of the best are featured is the main reason why the Rainforest World Music Festival is a big hit, writes HAFIDAH SAMAT.

The trio who make up the quartet from UK, New Rope String Band, captivated the audience with its good ole’ Celtic music

SOME things in life have the power to transcend borders. Testimony to this is the 11th edition of the Rainforest World Music Festival. This three-day mega event at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Santubong, Sarawak, was held from last Friday to Sunday.

And it boggles the mind as to how this global village has the capacity to house a wealth of diverse, centuries-old world music, cultures and traditions.

“Selamat Sejahteri! Saya cinta kamu!,” greeted Biswasjit Chakraborty, the frontman of the Chennai-based folk music outfit Oikyotaan, in perceptible Bahasa Malaysia as he tucked the little note scribbled with the greetings, in to his sarong.

“I don’t know if I pronounced it correctly but I know you’ve been the best audience ever,” he continued, followed by rapturous cheers from the 9,000-odd crowd on Saturday night.
The versatile Chakraborty went on captivating the crowd with self-composed compositions, largely consisting of Bengali spiritual contemporary melodies.

The band members were quirky and unique. And the audience clearly adored them. Those less acquainted with their musical shenanigans even found them endearing.

And for many in the crowd they knew that such similar scenes and more were the norm at the fest.

RWMF is conceptualised and organised by the Sarawak Tourism Board with the support of the Tourism Ministry, Ministry of Urban Development and Tourism Sarawak and Celcom’s X-Pax.

For the first time, the annual event introduced the World Crafts’ Bazaar, which housed 100 booths featuring vast intricate indigenous handicraft from all over the world.

What made the image even more memorable was the site: the 400-hectare panoramic virgin forest where every square mile of its beauty is naturally credited to Mount Santubong.

The aim of the festival was of course, to celebrate and honour world music and its practitioners in a mega music festival, made by people for the people.

The open-air grounds reverberated with sweet music; vigorous drum beats as well as folkloric dances reflecting the rich multitude of ethnic cultural heritage.

Most of the musically gifted artistes fitted the stereotypical images you could think of — from the admirable distinctive humility, easy-going demeanour to the tight dreadlock hairdos, the ethnic costumes and the assortment of exotic music instruments.

Each music group bore its own unique interpretation of world music. Almost everyone of them, primarily from Asia and Europe, was given equal prominence.

Every day for an hour they enthralled with their splendid showmanship and exuberance.

According to regular RWM7-goers, the festival was by far one of the grandest and one of the best packaged shows ever staged in the country and, in its wake, left many in awe. People are still raving about the three-night marathon.

When Claudette Blackman, the 64-year-old founder-singer of Sheldon Blackman & The Love Circle from Trinidad & Tobago crooned that “women should be fairly treated and domestic violence is not yet a taboo”, the rest of the band members, made up of his son, vocalist Sheldon (after whom the group is named), and relatives, were reveling in the warmth and adulation of the audience.

When other artistes sang about love, peace, racial harmony and diversity, it was reinforced that music is undoubtedly a powerful tool that can unite people and bring joy.

The concert was an orderly affair, to say the least. Food and beverages were in abundance and the stalls were kept sanitised for the comfort of the visitors.

Throughout the festival, visitors came early. As early as 2pm, the landscaped cultural village was filled with people, young and old, who came to attend the various workshops. (The workshops were conducted based upon loosely conceptualised themes such as percussions, wind instruments, acoustic guitars, keyboards and even vocals.)

If anything, the festival promotes intimacy.

Regardless of race, new bonds and friendships were forged through the passion for music.

“It’s really cool. We’re like a big multi-national family. We jammed almost every night with the other international acts till the wee hours of the morning,” said Jamie Wilson, who makes up the Kuala Lumpur-based Indian world-jazz-fusion music outfit, AkashA, of his new-found musician friends.

Fadomorse’s dashing vocalist, Hugo Farraz, who doubles as rapper, even imparted tips on scat singing.

Thanks to the organiser, some of the bands’ die-hard fans mingled with the stars and even dined with them.

RWMF involves very experienced artistes. There were just two simple stages with adequate lighting, no pyrotechnics, no special effects, no gimmicks or unnecessary frills.

The four gigantic screens, strategically erected around the open-air grounds also served as a nice backdrop for dwellers who opted to stay in their tents and around the lake pavilion.

The shows kicked off at 7.15pm, nightly. Right from the start, the performers mesmerised the crowd with their flamboyance and panache.

So much so, that when it rained for several hours during the opening and closing nights, the crowd didn’t seem to mind. They refused to allow bad weather to ruin their fun as they partied in the muddy deluge.

“I don’t think we would have enjoyed it that much if it didn’t rain,” said a fan who only wished to be known as Hawa, from Kuala Lumpur.

One girl was seen caked in mud from head-to-toe and she was carried out by the security to avoid dehydration while Dave, 24, a student from Manchester, ran down a slope before hurling himself into the mud.

Just when you thought that the party was coming to an end, in came the highly-energised Yakande (from Gambia). Then vocalist Kandet Dioubate unleashed her magic, and the crowd roared even louder.

The other show stealer was Pinikpikan of the Philippines, a rollicking folk rock ensemble who showcased an eclectic mix of Afro-Cuban, Arabic and Asian beats.

And when Japanese drum master Hiroshi “Sogui” Motofuji took centre stage, the party got even wilder.

The other performers included the highly-infectious Kasai Masai from the Congo, the Ross Daly Quartet from Greece, Beltaine (Poland), Adel Salameh (Palestine), Anak Jati Bisaya Orchestra and Kan’Id (Sarawak) and New Rope String Band (United Kingdom).

Let’s hope this effort to enrich us culturally and socially continues. Hopefully, RWM7 will see an even bigger pool of world-class entertainers.

Growing in strength

INDEED, the Rainforest World Music Festival is not about to end. Judging from the overwhelming success this year, the organisers have confirmed that the festival will return on July 10-12 next year.

“It’s been a great year and my team and I are still recuperating from the festival,” said an elated Gracie Geikie, Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer and festival co-chairman.

This year, she said, the festival has created a history of sorts.

The festival has attracted a total of 22,375 visitors from 36 countries including the United States, Britain, Middle East, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. The breakdown: 7,219 visitors on Friday, 9,063 (Saturday) and 6,093 (Sunday).

The figure shows a slight increase than last year.

For the first time, the event has also attracted the most number of media members ever. A total of 388 representatives comprising both electronic and print media were flown in to Kuching.

“I can’t mention the total revenue of the festival just yet as my team is still working on it,” said Geikie.