KUCHING: Kuchingnites as well as visitors are in for an exciting October as the third edition of What About Kuching (WAK) is set to kick off with great fanfare.
The calendar programme booklet for WAK 2019, which will be held from Sept 28 to Oct 27, was revealed and launched by Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah at Commons at the Old Court House here, yesterday.
“This year’s edition is the largest with 56 creative groups coming together and staging 99 different events, making up a whopping total of 315 daily events during that month,” he said.
“You will be spoiled for choice!”
Karim commended the involvement of young collaborators in WAK, showcasing their talents for everyone to see. He also encouraged more youths to come forward and participate.
“It is beautiful to see these young people being so passionate about WAK,” he said, also applauding the racial diversity of the collaborators.
He reminisced about WAK and its humble beginnings, when it was difficult to get participants, sponsors and partners to jump onto the WAK bandwagon.
“But the next year it was easier. And now, WAK has grown so much and so many people want to be a part of it!”
He deemed the festival as a true partnership between the public and private sectors which exemplifies the cohesiveness of Sarawakians.
WAK festival director Donald Tan described WAK as an open-access platform whereby its programming is entirely based on the proposals it received.
“This model allows anyone to participate by submitting a proposal during the ‘Call for Proposal’ period, which this year was from Apr 15 to June 14,” he said, adding that the response this year was overwhelming compared to last year.
With workshops, talks and events on photography, dance, comedy, poetry, musical theatre, beading and tuak-brewing, there is definitely something for everyone.
Tan revealed that comedy was one of the leading genres this year, with familiar names such as Joanne Kam, Bibi K Poh, Kavin Jay, the Malaysian Association of Chinese Comedians, and I Laugh KL coming in, along with local funny guys SaraLawak.
Where live music is concerned, WAK Music Portal will be featuring bands every weekend. Meanwhile, events such as the Sarawakiana Carnival 2019 will focus on the wonders of local culture with special emphasis on wood carvings.
Renowned personalities such as life coach Asha Gill, author Gina Yap Lai Yoong, and spoken word poet Jamal Raslan will be here to collaborate with local content providers.
Tan hoped that WAK would become the regional platform for South East Asia and beyond.
During the event, Karim along with his ministry’s permanent secretary Hii Chang Kee, and Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer Sharzede Salleh Askor visited the mini showcase of events which were displayed around the Old Court House courtyard.
Also present were WAK festival director Marina Foo-Tan and WAK director Jee Foong.
