Slovakia, Russia may make their folklore debut
Published on: Thursday, July 02, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The tenth Sabah International Folklore Festival (SIFF) will see two newcomers gracing the annual cultural event and the organiser is still waiting for word from previous winners China.Sabah Cultural Board General Manager Datu Rusmadi Datu Sulai said the two new countries are Slovakia and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Russia who have confirmed they will be participating in the International Folk Dance Competition set to take place from Aug 13 to 15."We have been told that China is also interested to come and we are waiting for their confirmation although we already have 15 participants, which is our limit actually for this year's festival," he said.
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The other 13 countries who have already confirmed their attendance are Latvia, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Russia, Brunei Darussalam, Kazakhstan, Taiwan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Mexico and Bangladesh.Rusmadi said this after the launching of the festival by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman at the Wisma Innoprise on Wednesday. The festival which will kick off on Aug 10 will culminate on Aug 15 and among the new attractions this year would be the photography contest, aimed to promote SIFF as well as to capture high quality photos of the event."This year's theme is 'Marriage' and we are focusing on the culture, the costume, the wedding traditions of various ethnic groups in the world. All the participants will showcase the uniqueness of their customs and costumes," said Rusmadi.The SIFF aims to promote understanding and peace through culture, promote brotherhood through culture, promote cultural tourism among participating countries and more importantly, to promote Sabah as a tourism destination in Asia.
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The KK City Folklore Parade will take place on Aug 12 from 2pm to 5pm in front of Wisma Budaya and will end at the Kota Kinabalu Community Hall. The 6th Folk Art Exhibition and Sabah Traditional Food and Handicraft Exhibition will take place from Aug 11 to 15 at Sabah Art Gallery and Sabah Cultural Centre Penampang respectively.The three-day Local Folk Dance Competition will see nine primary schools and 10 secondary schools including six schools from Sarawak, the peninsula and Brunei battle it out for top spots from Aug 12 to 14 at the Sabah Cultural Centre Penampang.
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