Miri International Jazz Festival to be known as Borneo Jazz Festival

THE Miri International Jazz Festival will be rebranded and expanded next year to make it a bigger and more inclusive event. Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive Datuk Rashid Khan said it would be known as the Borneo Jazz Festival and would take place over four days in various locations around Miri city. He said several new features would be introduced as part of efforts to enhance the festival, including an opening night, musical meetings and a Sunday matinee. “The opening night or premiere will be limited to 1,000 people, comprising 200 invited guests and 800 open to the public. The jazz festival proper will take place the next two nights while the matinee will be on the afternoon of the fourth day,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

New look: Dr Chan unveiling the poster for next year’s Borneo Jazz Festival while Rashid looks on.

He said the opening night would be held at Marina Bay, the festival concerts at ParkCity Everly Hotel and the matinee at Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club. In addition, the musical meetings will be held at Eastwood Valley and the Miri Marriott Resort and Spa. “The festival will be spread out to encompass the whole city, while the matinee will give more local residents in Miri access to an international event,” Rashid said. To increase attendance, he said STB would develop jazz packages targeting Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Brunei, Europe, Australia and the peninsula.

“We also plan to hold previews in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore so that more people will know about the festival,” he added. Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan, who is also Tourism and Heritage Minister, said the rebranding was timely to attract more local residents and tourists. “The festival has come to a point where it needs to go big and involve the whole city, not just a part of it. A bigger event means more revenue for the city as well as opportunities for local musicians to perform,” he said.

Meanwhile, STB corporate communications director Angelina Bateman said eight bands had been lined up for next year’s festival, with Grammy nominee Maria Muldaur from the United States as the headline act. The others are Cunha and Piper from Brazil, Les Doigts De L’Homme (France), SIU2 (Hong Kong), State of Monc (Holland), Victor Yong and the Electric Carnival (Malaysia/Canada/Australia) and Yuichiro Tokuda’s Rallyzz Dig (Japan). She said the target attendance was 10,500 visitors, with 60% coming from outside Sarawak. The festival will be held on May 12-15 next year. Daily tickets, priced at RM60 for adults and RM30 for children aged three to 12, are now available online at www.ticketcharge.com.my For more information, go to www.jazzborneo.com

-thestar online.