Borneo Cultural Festival 2017 records 600,000 visitors — SMC

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A sea of people covering Sibu Town Square – the hosting venue of BCF 2017.

SIBU: This year’s Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF), which ran from July 20 to 29, recorded about 600,000 visitors – more than last year’s figure of over 500,000.

Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) deputy chairwoman Rogayah Jamain acknowledged the encouraging response from visitors to the annual event, which was first staged in 2002.

“They (visitors) wanted more cultural elements. They said there were more improvements this year than the previous editions,” she told The Borneo Post yesterday when asked if the council would organise BCF on a larger scale next year.

In her reply, Rogayah said: “That would depend on the budget. Definitely, we will improve it (further).”

She noted that visitors loved the BCF Arch at where Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah performed the opening ceremony.

In his remarks, Abdul Karim said any festival of this magnitude would aim to showcase the colourful cultures, heritage and the diverse ethnicity of the state.

He said it was held not just for Sarawakians but for everyone as well, be they Malaysians or foreigners.

Minister of International Trade and E-Commerce Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh performed the closing ceremony.