Organiser of festival tagged as ‘unhealthy’ wants to clear the air

KUALA TERENGGANU: The organiser of the Island Music Festival wants to clear the air with the Terengganu government over the festival being tagged as “unhealthy”.

A company official, who declined to be named, said the state government was reconsidering approval for the event, scheduled to be held in Pulau Redang from Oct 12 to 14.

“I will meet with them to clarify any misconception and explain that we intend to follow the guidelines.

“We are not planning to go against the law or do anything unhealthy, that was never part of our agenda.

“The festival was designed to be a small-scale event promoting music, tourism and activities such as scuba diving, snorkelling and beach sports,” the official said.

The Island Music Festival, a three-day two-night event, has been held annually at Long Beach in the island since 2013.

Controversy arose recently when, in a closed Facebook group, a 30-second video of a previous event featuring girls in bikinis on the beach were posted, prompting netizens to demand that this year’s festival be cancelled.

Terengganu exco member for tourism, culture and information technology Ariffin Deraman said the door was still open for the organisers to meet with the state government.

“It could be considered if organisers agree to our terms but for now, they do not have the permit to hold the event.

“At the exco meeting, we decided that this event should not go on because it is immoral and goes against our values,” he said.