(From left) Tan, Hii, Lee, Abd Karim, Snowdan (second right) and others give the thumbs-up to the event. — Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING: City folk can look forward to an even more exciting What About Kuching (WAK) this year, which runs from Sept 29 to Oct 28.
The second edition of the festival in celebrating local talents will produce a bigger buzz in the city with the participation of 55 groups staging 75 events.
Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah is also hoping that the event will be more exciting as it has received a bigger funding from the ministry.
“The ministry is proud to be again part of WAK 2018, a month-long showcase which highlights the creative, sometimes undiscovered, lives of Kuching’s art, culture and lifestyles communities.
“There are lots of interesting things and places coming up in Kuching such as the old State Assembly Building which will be turned into a performing arts centre in one and a half to two years’ time, and a huge musical fountain similar to the one in Dubai, at the Kuching Waterfront,” he said at the launching of WAK 2018 at the rooftop of Waterfront Hotel on Wednesday.
“I would like to congratulate the organisers and all those who will be participating in this event. This is one programme that I personally like to see to be continued,” added Abd Karim.
He also hoped that with the success of WAK, the festival would spread to other places in Sarawak, like Miri and Sibu. “It will be great to have ‘What about Sibu’; ‘What About Miri’ and others to be part of Sarawak’s calendar of events someday,” he said.
WAK is an iconic annual festival that celebrates art, culture and heritage, and supports inbound travel in a bold and innovative way.
Inspired by the success of Georgetown Festival, a team led by festival directors Donald Tan and Marina Foo-Tan encouraged the numerous communities in Kuching City to come together to stage their respective contents under a common festival umbrella coined as ‘About Kuching – Celebrate Arts, Culture and Lifestyle’.
During WAK 2018, Kuching and Sarawak talents will showcase their best efforts to the community and visitors in the many genres of Arts, Culture and Lifestyle.
It will provide an opportunity and platform for the various creative communities to connect with the public, and for the public to appreciate the outstanding level of creativity in Kuching.
Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim Shin, Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Hii Chang Kee and festival director Donald Tan were also present at the launching ceremony.