By Nancy Nais
KUCHING, June 19: The opening night of the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) first virtual experience has hit 56,000 views yesterday.
The first day event which featured a retrospective of past RWMF performances and new pre-recorded sessions with homegrown acts through www.rwmf.net, Shopee Live, as well as RWMF’s and TVS’ Facebook pages had exceeded Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) original targets.
Sarawak Tourism Board CEO Sharzede Salleh Askor disclosed that the www.rwmf.net platform alone received registrants from 78 countries, with the most coming from Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
“The positive response to the RWMF 2021 virtual experience has not only exceeded our expectations but also shown to us the strong appeal of our musical content, even outside of the traditional festival atmosphere.
“It gives us a glimpse of what we can do in terms of virtual or mixed media for future events as we look to diversify and strengthen our programming and concept for RWMF 2022,” Sharzede said.
Last night, the virtual show saw original performances by Alena Murang, KEMADA and Sang Rawi.
National living heritage of Malaysia Mathew Ngau, At Adau and Suk Binie’ performed tonight while Nading Rhapsody and Tuku’ Kame’ will appear on the final night (tomorrow).
Registrants on www.rwmf.net can navigate either a 3D virtual landscape or 3D walkthrough of the Sarawak Cultural Village, home of the RWMF, where they will be able to access performances on the ‘main stage’ or workshops from the virtual Bidayuh, Iban, Chinese and Malay houses.
On the virtual stage, viewers can watch the performances, interviews and flashbacks and engage in conversation with other online users throughout the 90-minute event.
For those who feel peckish during the performances, food can be ordered at the Orang Ulu longhouse via GrabFood, while others looking to buy limited edition RWMF merchandise can access Shopee at the Melanau Tall House.
Sharzede also disclosed that in addition to RWMF, this year’s Borneo Jazz Festival (BJF) will be viewable on www.jazzborneo.com, TVS and on Shopee Live.
Viewers will be serenaded by a string of jazz musicians including Clinton Jerome Chua, O-Ha Soul Band, Nisa Addina, Ta’Dan and the “Prince of Borneo” himself – Pete Kallang among flashbacks and exclusive interviews from June 25 to 27 at 6pm-7.30pm.
Meanwhile, registrants to the RWMF and BJF platforms will be eligible for the grand prizes worth RM2,000, e-goody bags worth RM300 and contest giveaways to be held during the virtual events, where viewers can win free tickets to next year’s festivals, discounts to selected hotels, event merchandise and much more.
Grab is the official delivery partner for both RWMF and BJF.
Those who register and access the musical events on www.rwmf.net and www.jazzborneo.com will be able to order food and receive discounts with a special promo code.
With Shopee named as the official e-commerce partner, the virtual experience will be streamed via Shopee Live, giving access to millions of households across the country to enjoy the showcase from the comforts of their own homes.
STB also opened an official store on Shopee to feature merchandise from both RWMF and BJF, which includes their limited edition products such as t-shirts, Batik Linut face mask and printed Batik face mask.
Those who wish to purchase these limited editions merchandise can visit https://
