Water stations for greener rainforest music festival

Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah taking a look at a decorated rubbish bin for this year’s Rainforest World Music Festival.

GOING to the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) this year? Bring your own reusable water bottle.

This is part of the festival’s efforts to go greener as it returns for its 22nd edition from July 12-14 at the Sarawak Cultural Village.

RWMF organiser Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) will work with Cuckoo International to install 20 water stations throughout the venue, providing free drinking water to visitors.

“This will possibly make the biggest impact at RWMF this year as it will greatly reduce the amount of single-use plastic at the festival,” said STB chief executive Sharzede Salleh Askor.

“We will not be selling bottled water at the RWMF venue.

“Visitors can purchase limited-edition stainless steel collapsible cups but we still advise them to bring their own bottles.”

She noted that over 60,000 plastic water bottles were collected at last year’s festival, leading to the introduction of free water stations this year.

STB will also work with various partners on a waste management strategy at the festival.

Trienekens will provide bins for visitors to segregate their waste between recyclables and food waste, while Biji-Biji Initiative will synchronise waste management across multiple waste stations.

The rubbish bins will feature colourful decorations by university students in a bid to encourage proper waste disposal and segregation.

“RWMF is the perfect platform for eco-friendly initiatives because it draws over 22,000 people,” said Sharzede.

“We believe strongly that RWMF is beyond music. It can showcase what responsible tourism looks like.”

This year’s festival will feature performers from eight countries or cultures which have never been represented before.

They include Druk Folk Musicians from Bhutan, Macka B from Jamaica, Mauravaan from Mauritius, Ainu Japanese musician Oki, Olga Cerpa Y Mestisay from the Canary Islands and Trad.Attack! from Estonia.

Also performing for the first time are Sangtam Naga from India’s Nagaland province and West Kalimantan’s Spirit of the Hornbill.

Altogether, more than 200 performers from 30 countries will take to the stage at RWMF.