Ready to rock the city in October
By Martin Yee
Come October, Kuching City will come alive in a celebration of arts, culture, lifestyle and everything in between.
After a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the What About Kuching (WAK) Festival, a community-based month-long event, will be back to light up the city with its array of activities, and add more colour to an already packed calendar this year.
WAK, which was held for three years (2017, 2018 and 2019) before being grinded to a halt by the pandemic, was a unique festival that lasted a whole month with local talents coming to the surface to exhibit their skills in music, play, dance and artists displaying their sketches of the old town.
The previous events drew participants from across the sea and and also foreign photographers from the Netherlands, and the organiser expects a large number of entries from both within and outside of Sarawak this year.
The festival’s objectives include increasing tourism arrivals to benefit the local economy and to promote a platform to showcase the talents’ various pursuits. Besides that, it is also hoped that the event can create awareness, educate, and garner greater appreciation of these pursuits, and foster regional and international collaborations to further elevate the standard of local talents.
Officially launched by the Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak who is also the Minister of Youth Sports and Entrepreneur Development of Sarawak, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, at the Waterfront hotel on June 30, WAK is the most appropriate, to say the least, for the minister.
For the festival, all of the factors promoting tourism, commercial aspects, and promoting Kuching City as a cultural centre are present, in addition to providing a platform for the youth to showcase their creative talents.
“It is a community-driven and homegrown event. It is interesting to witness the city coming together with a partnership between the public and private sectors.
“Many people are happy that WAK is back as it has become the soul of the city,” said Abdul Karim at the launch.
Karim, in his speech, explained that he had asked WAK founder Donald Tan when the event was going to be held again after the two-year hiatus, showing his enthusiasm and support for the event.
Praising the organisers for coming up with the ideas for the event, Karim said that WAK really proved that Kuching is a very vibrant city, with so many talents among the local youths.
For the three years it was held, the festival caught his attention for its great participation and enthusiasm of the local people in taking part in the events.
The launch event, which was somewhat hampered by the rain, was held on the fourth floor of the Waterfront Hotel instead of the planned rooftop location. It was packed with the would-be participants, which included an interesting mix of musicians, comedians, cycling clubs, artistes, artisans, and even academicians from UNIMAS who are interested in the subject.
Founder Donald Tan, speaking at the event, explained that he first got the idea when he saw a similar festival held in Georgetown, Penang. He instantly thought to himself that Kuching would be perfect for such an event.
Much like the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Scottish capital was the focal point for people from all over the world, where there were street performances and the pubs were filled with people, with business at its height during the festival.
In its first edition, WAK recorded 70,000 attendees with 75 events organised, while in its 2019 edition, it recorded 200,000 attendees with a total of 121 events held over the 30-day period.
One of the most unique traits of the event is that it is people-driven and not organised by the government, unlike the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), for example. It is organised by a committee of 30 people, which is unique in its organisation.
It is also not money-driven, but organisers of particular events can charge the audience with tickets if they wish.
“We always believe Kuching has a wealth of talents and this event provides them a platform to showcase their talents. It also helps them gain exposure.
“It’s interesting because it also revitalised some arts, such as storytelling. We even put up a salsa dance event and encouraged underground bands to perform.
“These bands, which include underground music rock bands, packed the house. Band members even volunteered to clean up the venues themselves. We all played our roles to help make it a success.
He said that foreign participants are welcome, but under the condition that they must organise a workship after the event to help local talents get exposure.
Held in different pockets of the city like the Kuching Waterfront, the Old Courthouse, The Hills at Pullman Hotel, the science exhibition centre and streets like Carpenter Street and Main Bazaar, the event also helped promote various locations around the city with participating businesses selling Sarawak Laksa or mee kolok participating in the festival by having WAK stickers displayed in their stalls.
For Donald, his vision is to put Kuching on the global map and that the event can help promote networking with cities like Hong Kong, Japan or Singapore.
