SANTUBONG: After a nine-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sarawak Harvest & Folklore Festival (SHFF) makes a much-anticipated return, this time with ‘Rentap – The Battle of Bukit Sadok’, a drama musical, on May 24 and 25.
Set against the stunning backdrop of the Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV), the festival is more than just an event; it is a celebration of unity, culture and the future.
The festival themed ‘Celebrating Heritage, Inspiring Future’ proudly involves local communities, students, cultural enthusiasts, and creative talents across Sarawak.
Last night, the drama musical welcomed 22,000 people who had taken free passes to attend the day and night event.
Tonight, the crowd is expected to be as big.
SCV’s Chief Executive Officer, Jane Lian Labang, said the good response to the show showed the strong interest among the locals and tourists alike.
After all, the festival is the first to be showcased by SCV after the COVID-19 hiatus in 2019.
“The last one SHFF done by SCV was in 2019, ‘The Bisaya Legend – Dang Bunsu’, and we stopped SHFF due to COVID-19, until today,” she said when met at the SHFF at SCV on Friday.
She added that SCV wanted to share this theme play, drama musical outdoor with the locals.
“Kuching, thus far, does not have any cultural show at night for the tourists. We want to take the lead to do night shows for tourists,” she said.
According to Jane, plans are on the way to create SHFF as part of a tourism product, and hopefully, it will take off by 2026.
“It will be part of a Tourism Night, and travel agents can package it together with the hotels and destinations.
“We can have it on either Friday/Saturday night or Saturday/Sunday night.
“We will have to conduct further studies on this as we want to continue with our new legends, new folklores,” said Jane.
She also said that SCV was the only venue in Malaysia to promote local culture, and have a SHFF in an open space with nature as its beautiful backdrop.
Meanwhile, to ease visitor access and reduce traffic congestion, free shuttle buses were provided from Kuching Stadium and Riverside Majestic Hotel’s bus stop, from 9:00 am onwards.
Additionally, a special shuttle service was available to pick up the public at Damai Golf & Country Club’s check-point, with a minimal fee of RM5 per person (round trip).
The same arrangement continues today.
Apart from ‘Rentap – The Battle of Bukit Sadok’, the festival promotes sharing cultural differences through a variety of activities including traditional dances, food tasting from ethnic cuisines, craft demonstrations and workshops, and traditional games that invite audience participation.
This weekend, SCV also invites local entrepreneurs to come and set up their stalls, where they have zones for local entrepreneurs, and other vendors.
“We want their inputs and feed-backs on our next new tourism product.
“We need the support of our local people, tourism industry, the stakeholders to promote this as part of their tourism packages, especially the hotels so that their guests in the hotels know what to do at night.
“This is an organised trip for them,” Jane said.
Among those present at the preview on Friday was SHFF festival director, Zaini Zainuddin, the production team of ‘Rentap – Battle of Bukit Sadok’ led by Maspah Brahim, school students and others.
