Gracie adjusting the cowboy hat on ‘Sheriff’ Yii as others look on.
MIRI: The Miri Country Music Fest (MCMF2017) is back with two days and nights of packed honky-tonk fun for the whole family.
“Mark your calendar for Feb 25 and 26 now as the fourth edition of MCMF2017 promises you an experience of country and western music to remember,” said festival advisor Gracie Geikie in a press conference here recently.
“We are targeting 3,000 audience members for the next edition – an increase of around 20 per cent from last year’s festival where we recorded a total of 2,740 people. Last year, we received a lot of requests and suggestions from the audience, particularly foreigners, for the festival to be extended to two days instead of just one day,” said Gracie.
An outdoor stage will be set up by the coast along Brighton Beach inside Parkcity Everly Hotel Miri–the official hotel of the festival–for the festival which has three international acts lined up to perform: Shane Smith & The Saints (Austin, Texas, USA), James Thomson & The Strange Pilgrims (Newcastle, Australia) and The Casual Ceilidh Band (Brunei).
Smith has been performing around the world and recently released an album titled ‘The Mountain’ while Casual Ceilidh–the only ceilidh band in Borneo and whose members are European expatriates based in Brunei–will offer its unique take on Celtic and country music.
Ceilidhs are traditional Irish/Scottish social events in which audience members dance together in groups or couples to traditional Celtic music.
Local favourite five-piece band Country Road from Miri will also be entertaining the audience during the festival.
“They will be at the upcoming festival roadshow at Level 3 of Boulevard Shopping Complex here on Saturday, Nov 26. The band is set to take the stage from 5pm-7pm,” Gracie revealed.
Also from Miri is The Mountain Wind Band who will be making a comeback at the festival. They are also a five-piece band with members from various towns around Miri.
Meanwhile, flying the Malaysian flag high at MCMF2017 will be Adi Wow & Maha (Kota Kinabalu), Raggy Project (Penang) and hit maker Russell Curtis (Kuala Lumpur).
The festival is endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Sarawak Tourism Board and Miri City Council, and supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Malaysia Major Events.
The official media partners are Rentak Sejuta and SelebritiOnline while MASwings is the supporting airline and Brighton Travel and Tour is the official tour partner.
The Miri Taxi Association has been engaged to assist with promoting the event by placing the official festival stickers on their taxis and inserting festival flyers into their car seat pockets for passengers to read.
Gracie said the organisers wanted to support the local economy by involving local businesses and retail companies, which included taxis, hotels, food and beverage outlets and retail outlets.
Also present at the press conference were Mayor Adam Yii and Parkcity Everly general manager Andrew Law.
Tickets are now available online at www.miricountrymusic.com.
A ‘Buy Three, Free One Ticket’ combo deal is on promotion till the end of December.
Members of the public can also stay updated on the festival’s happening by checking out the festival’s Facebook page.