KUCHING: To all country music lovers, book your date, shine your boots and hats, call your peers and friends, clear your throat and get ready to ride to Siniawan Old Town in September as the Siniawan Country Music Festival (SCMF) is back.
SCMF patron, Miro Simuh, said the SCMF 2025 is scheduled to be held from September 26-28.
He said this time they will move back to Siniawan Waterfront Square as the Siniawan Waterfront project is expected to be completed in July.
“Now that we are going back to the original venue, visitors can expect and enjoy a bigger space, a new-look Siniawan Town and a more vibrant atmosphere during the festival,” he told Sarawak Tribune.
The Serembu assemblyman said they have also decided to maintain all the bands that performed last year, namely Os Pombos – KL; KCLC Band – Pontianak, Indonesia; Evergreen Unlimited Country Band – Kota Kinabalu; Country Road Band – Miri; Mountain Wind – Miri; Onstring – Kuching; Hi Breed – Kuching, and Sela Band – KL.
He said they will also have solo performers like Raggie – Penang; Peter Engkasan – Saratok, and Ashley – Kuching, who are going to perform on the street to welcome music lovers and visitors.
Asked if they will bring in new performers, he said they will be writing to the United States Embassy in Malaysia, seeking for them to sponsor any country band from Nashville, USA to perform in this year’s event.
He, however, believed that even with the seasoned performers, the SCMF 2025 is going to be better in terms of crowd turnouts.
“Our crowds are getting bigger year by year. Last year, about 15,000 visitors come over to support us for the three-night performance.
“And this year, with the new look of Siniawan Waterfront, we expect to have more than last year’s recorded visitors,” he said.
Miro believed that the new long-awaited Siniawan Waterfront is going to be the extra unique and interesting feature in the SCMF 2025.
“Finally, the waterfront will open to the public, featuring the unique design that portrays the three main ethnic groups in Siniawan, the Bidayuh, Chinese and Malay.
“The Opening Ceremony of Siniawan Waterfront is going to be the main sideshow of SCMF 2025, where Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Open is going to officiate it on September 27 at 3:00 pm,” he said.
Miro noted that the SCMF had been a great success, saying they have even been awarded for being the biggest country music festival in Southeast Asia.
He said people from West Malaysia, Sabah, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and all over Sarawak had come down to Siniawan to enjoy the unique and vibrant country music festival.
Miro said the idea of having the Siniawan Festival was mooted when he was first elected as honorary member back in 2016.
He recalled that it started as Siniawan Festival, but as the crowds were more interested in country music rather than other event, they changed the name to Siniawan Country Music Festival in 2017.
“Under this new name, we focused on music performing, food and beverages, and souvenir stalls.
“We started with three local bands and as it gets popular, we brought in bands from outside Kuching that can bring their followers too with them,” he said.
Miro said he was also glad that SCMF had contributed a lot to Siniawan town and the people surrounding it in terms of tourism and economy boost.
He pointed out that now the festival is always the talk of the town, and people, especially the country music enthusiasts, keep asking when it’s coming back.
He said they have received a lot of inquiries from country music enthusiasts on when the event is going to be held this year.
“I’m really glad that the festival has served its purpose. Shops and stall operators are enjoying good business during the whole festival period.
“I believed visitors had spent millions of ringgit throughout the festival since 2016. Traders are happy, as well as the local folks.
“Most of all, we are bringing back the glory of Siniawan as what it was way back 40 to 50 years ago,” he said.
