The Rainforest World Music Festival is an annual three day music cultural program which is being held in the city of Kuching in Borneo. It is one of the largest music festivals of the world with more than 30,000 audiences. It is held in order to celebrate the diversity in world music. The festival is generally held on the end of June month. This year (2013) the festival will be held from 28th to 30th June. The festival displays music shows, workshops, concerts and cultural displays etc. A variety of traditional and modern music are performed during this festival. Traditional instruments are used in order to emphasize the importance of them. Famous artists from various countries come here to perform during the Rainforest Music Festival.
History of the Festival
Randy Raine, Robert Basiuk and Edric Ong were the first to start the festival. It was first held in the year 1997at Kuching. The initial funding and foundation was laid by the Society Atelier, Sarawak. In the later years the tourism board of the state took initiative and developed the idea in a great way. During the initial years only 400 people attended the festival. Currently, thousands of people from various attend this festival every year.
Performers and Ticket Costs
The festival features various artists from the nearby countries and this year famous artists and troops like Rey Vallenato Beto Jamaica, Palsundae, Habadekuk, Alp Bora, Kries and Rafly Wa Saja etc. are going to rock the stage. The festival coordinators give early bird offers for people who book their tickets for the festival well in advance i.e. on or before February 28th. The cost of the ticket during this early bird offer is RM 93 per day for adults and for children it is RM 48 per day. People who like to attend all the three days of the festival gets special offer on the ticket price. The ticket price for adults is RM 253 and for children it is RM 128. After February 28th the early bird promotions are over and no discounts will be given on the ticket price. The price of the ticket after this date is RM 123 for adults and RM 63 for children. The three day pass costs RM 333 for adults and RM 163 for children. With great performers lining up, the festival is worth every penny u pay for the ticket.
Accommodation
The festival is an international level festival and there are various options for accommodation in and around Kuching. People can choose their hotels nearby the festival village to stay or even choose packages for staying along with the music tickets. Deluxe rooms and Dom rooms are available for stay. They are pretty cheap when bought along with the ticket. These rooms provide breakfast and one lunch for free. The price of a ticket plus a deluxe room for one person is RM 298 and for similar package the price of the Dom room is RM 198. Tickets can be booked through phone or online via rwmf.net, the official website of the Rainforest World Music Festival.
The festival is one of the largest of its kind in the entire world. The number of people attending is definitely increasing every year. With power packed performances from various artists from all over the world, the festival is full of surprises and entertainment.