The Rainforest World Music Festival

Lisa at the Jungle Stage

My computer crashed and I thought it might be dead but fortunately it has been revived and so I can relate to you the amazing weekend I have just spent at the Rainforest World Music Festival near Kuching, Sarawak. It was the 16th  Festival and it is held in the Cultural Village in the most beautiful rainforest  with Mount Santubong as a backdrop and the sea in front. It is the first World Music Festival I've ever been and I sincerely hope that it won't be the last. It was fantastic hearing so much diverse music from all over the world played by such excellent musicians and it was a real opportunity to learn and appreciate the many musical sounds that are created around the world with  some using only voices or percussion to the contrast of many instruments being played.

Our camp-site beach

 We camped in an idyllic camp-site just beside the festival with our own beach and rainforest and arrived in the afternoon in time for the workshops. They were held in three venues and it was so hard to decide which one to attend as they were all interesting. Lisa and I mostly went for the interactive dancing ones so we had a go at Irish, Sarawakian (?), African, Norwegian, Scottish and French. It was all great fun and very tiring especially the Irish. My favourite I think (as they were all great) was the interactive polyphonic singing run by the French group named Chet Nuneta. This is a group consisting of four singers and a percussionist and they sing folk songs from all over the world and they were brilliant in concert on Friday night.

Sarawak's Sape

Korean 

 There were two stages and we just walked between the two and stood near the front. There were so many talented musicians and styles of music being played it is too difficult to say who or which group I enjoyed the most but I think I will always remember the young Aboriginal dance group called Nunukul Yuggera. They are a group of very young Aborigines who have decided to celebrate and maintain their culture and heritage through dance and it was very uplifting to see how passionate they were. The South African - Dizu Plaaties and the Ibuyamba Ensemble, Kila, (Irish) Habadekuk (Danish) Rafly Wa Saja (Indonesian) and many others were all amazing. The only group that I did not like was Kries from Croatia whose lead singer was a pretentious poser and seemed to think he was a rock star! Anyway I managed to keep going with all the young and old at the front of the stage and was exhausted by the time I came back to Ranau, however I would love to do it all again. If ever in Borneo don't miss the Rainforest Music Festival!!

Our tent

Concert