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Malaysia Travel Guide

WELSH MUSIC At RAINFOREST FESTIVAL

WELSH MUSIC At RAINFOREST FESTIVAL

KUCHING, Thursday – Audience at the Rainforest World Music Festival will be able to sample Welsh music which will be staged on the weekend on July 14 to 16.

Welsh musician and legend, Huw Williams, as well as ‘Cool Cymru’ ambassadors Calan will be performing alongside popular international musicians at the festival.

Huw Williams, a veteran in the Welsh music scene, is a champion Eisteddfod clog-dancer, songwriter, guitarist, story-teller, Welsh bagpiper, half of Welsh legendary duo with Tony Williams and former front man of Welsh indie pop stars, The Pooh Sticks.

Some of his well-known songs include ‘The Summer Before the War’, ‘Rosemary’s Sister’ and ‘I can Jump Puddles’, while his newer songs include ‘Giggly’, recorded and performed by Calan.

Huw had ‘retired’ from the folk-club scene for a long time, but his contributions to the heritage of Welsh music continued as a member of the group Crasdant and his position as tutor and teacher of clog-dancing at trac workshops.

Huw was the co-founder of the Welsh Music Foundation established in 2000 with the intention of promoting Welsh music to the younger generation of musicians, and nurtured the careers of bands such as the 60ft Dolls, Catatonia as well as another band performing at the Festival, Calan.

Calan has been performing since 2008, the five band members perform their vibrant renditions of traditional Welsh music and are the new ambassadors of Cool Cymru.

Originally a tongue-in-cheek response by the ‘Cool Britannia’ musical movement to the aspiring cultural musicians in Wales, ‘Cool Cymru’ symbolised a time of desperation where Welsh culture was slipping away or ridiculed. Now, the term has been redeemed, or even reborn, into a powerful movement of cultural restoration and international recognition.

Calan has performed throughout major festivals in the UK and the rest of Europe, such as the Cambridge Festival, at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Shrewsbury Folk Festival, Mosely Folk Festival, Derby Folk Festival, Bromyard Folk Festival as well as the Whitby Folk Festival and the concert tour of Italy, Austria and Belgium.

They have since become the only band from Wales to win the international folk group trophy at Lorent in Brittany, France.

They have released five albums with Sain Records including their debut album, Bling (2008), Jonah (2012), Giggly (2013), Dinas (2015) and Solomon (2017).

Welsh music is energetic and spritely, and with both Huw Williams of the ‘old school’ and Calan with their modernised traditional songs, their performances at the Festival are assuredly going to be foot tapping at the very least.

The Festival will be held at the Sarawak Cultural Village which also features  wellness programmes, informative talks, interactive ‘mini sessions’ in the afternoon as well as night concerts throughout the three-day festival.

Some 20 international bands will be performing, while many local bands such as At Adau will be taking centre stage with their cultural performances of Sarawak.

Rainforest World Music Festival is organised by Sarawak Tourism, endorsed by Tourism Malaysia and is jointly supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Youth Sports Sarawak and partnering with Malaysia Airlines as the presenting sponsor with Zurich Insurance Malaysia Berhad (ZIMB) and Zurich Takaful Malaysia Berhad (ZTMB) (Zurich Malaysia) as Corporate Social Responsibility Partner.

RWMF2017 CALAN

Issued by:

Communications Unit
SARAWAK TOURISM
T: +6 082-423600  F: +6 082-416700
E: [email protected]

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Wonderful Malaysia

International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta returns

The International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta returns to Putrajaya in March 2013. This 4-day fiesta to feature new side activities to astound visitors.

This March, Putrajaya will once again host a fiesta like no other in the country. The thriving government capital will be converted to a major tourist and visitor attraction site over a four-day period from the 28 – 31 March 2013.

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The Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, returns to its Monumen Alaf Baru (also known as the Millennium Monument) grounds for the fifth year running.

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2013’s fiesta will see more exciting special shaped balloons such as the Smurf Balloon, piloted by Koen Audenaert of Belgium together with Sven Grenzner of Germany who will be piloting the ‘Clown’ Balloon. 2013 also marks the return of the highly-anticipated “night glow” event where the hot air balloons will participate in a light and sound show on the night of the 30th; culminating in a beautiful display of fireworks.

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To encourage togetherness and quality family values, the fiesta team will once again be organizing popular side-activities to suit each family or individual. Visitors can look forward to activities such as a para-motor exhibition, helicopter joy rides – suitable for families who would like a unique experience, tethered hot air balloon rides, the Mountain Dew Extreme Zone individuals who thrive adventure, as well as a line-up of exciting activities for the young ones in the kids’ area such as coloring contests, on-ground competitions and many more.

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Also, this fiesta will welcome an array of new exciting activities such as the ‘Walk in the Balloon’, an experience where visitors can actually go inside the balloon and also music performances by the Kuala Lumpur Jazz Festival amongst others. Visitors will also enjoy a 30% discount if they decide to use the KLIA Transit to Putrajaya during the fiesta period.

More information about the Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2013’s activity line-up and sponsorship opportunities can be obtained by visiting http://www.myballoonfiesta.com

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Tourism Malaysia

Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

Watch as colourful hot air balloons float the skies of Putrajaya. Themed ‘ 1 World, 1 Malaysia, 1 Fiesta’ this event features 23 balloonists from Belgium, USA, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Malaysia and Japan.

For more information, please visit: http://www.myballoonfiesta.com

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Tourism Malaysia

European Union Film Festival 2011

November 16, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Lovers of European films, do take note as the European Union Film Festival is just around the corner. Organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, this event is now in its 12th year and is an annual event aimed as showcasing a collection of films which draw on the rich and diverse talents of European film makers. These movies not only display the cultural heritage of European films, they also promote the cultural heritage of Europe’s outstanding film industry.

Some of the films that are scheduled to play include classics like Oliver Twist

The festival is currently going on at several cinemas in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya until the 20th November before moving on to Penang from 24th till 30th November 2011. This year, the festival will feature over 15 of the best international European films from countries like Poland, Denmark, Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium and Italy. Some of the films that are scheduled to play include classics like Oliver Twist and Great Expectations; comedies like If I Have To Be Honest and Tandoori Love. The participating cinemas in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya are GSC Mid Valley Megamall, GSC 1 Utama and GSC Pavilion, whereas GSC Gurney Plaza will be the cinema to go to if you would like to catch the movies.

Tickets are priced at RM 5 each except for ‘Cell 211?, which is free. Tickets for ‘Cell 211? can only be redeemed on the same day of screening. All movies will be screened in their original language with English subtitles. For the full schedule of movie listing, please log on here or refer to all GSC cinema listings in major newspapers.

Photo (c) El Bibliomata

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