With the theme “The Sacred Mountain,” the Sarawak Adventure Challenge is back for its second edition this year.
The duathlon adventure will showcase some of Sarawak’s most stunning rainforests, rivers and trails, now including an Individual Mountainbike (MTB) Trail and individual Trail Run categories.
This year’s route covers spans 52km in the vicinity of Kuching and beginning at Singai in Bau, some 30km from Kuching, or a 45 minute’s drive.
What About Kuching 2018 (WAK2018) returned for the second year and is celebrated as a tribute to the spirit of Kuching’s art and cultural scenes.
With performances and art exhibitions, culinary events and cultural markets, this month-long events brings the city to life and sets the stage for Kuching artistes to show case their performances.
The multitude of educational exhibitions throughout the city also shines a light on the historical and cultural significance of the city folks, covering photography, museum exhibitions and bead and tattoo expos.
The first of its kind outdoor jazz festival overlooking the majestic Sarawak River, the Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival is back for the second time this year.
14 regional and international bands and solo acts will grace the stage for the weekend bash.
Headlining the festival will be Indonesian, Tulus, Rolling Stone Indonesia’s Rookie of the Year 2013.
Sarawak-born singing sensation and award-winning singer, Dayang Nurfaizah will entertain jazz fans with her chart-topping hits songs.
Miss World Malaysia 2018 has been crowned and the coveted title was won by a 19 year-old Sarawakian, Larissa Ping.
Crowned runner up was another Sarawakian, Naomi Sim, aged 26.
Larissa will also move to the international stage to represent Malaysia at the 68th Miss World 2018 in Sanya, China on December 8.
The newly-minted Miss World Malaysia will now take up the additional mantle as Sarawak Tourism Ambassador for 2019, in line with the ‘Visit Sarawak Campaign’.
Fort Hose in Marudi will be closed for two years as from November 5 for restoration works.
Fort Hose was named after Marudi’s most famous administrator, naturalist, ethnographer and pioneer photographer, Charles Hose and it is just one of the 14 forts still standing from the era of the Brookes, with many more having been dismantled or destroyed.
Marudi is situated on the northern bank of the Baram river about 80 km from Miri city, and is a major trading town supplying goods to most of Sarawak’s northern interior.
Sarawak Tourism Board’s (STB) Chairman, Datuk Haji Abdul Wahab Aziz, hosted a luncheon for officials and delegates for the 2018 PATA Travel Mart which was held in Langkawi on September 13.
The function was attended by guests which include the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia, Tuan Muhammad Bakhtiar bin Wan Chik and PATA Chairman, Dr Chris Bottrill.
At the luncheon, guests were entertained by Sarawak traditional dancing troupe taking to the stage to showcase the traditional dances of the different ethnic groups as well as a destination promotional video screening throughout the event.
The 17th Kuching Intercultural Mooncake Festival (KIMF) will take place from September 17 to 24, from 6.30 pm to 11pm along Carpenter Street and Ewe Hai Street in Downtown Kuching
Essentially a Chinese festival, KIMF brings together participants from all races, cultures and walks of life to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, with non-Chinese locals not only joining in as audiences and patrons, but as vendors and competition participants, showing Sarawak’s inherent multicultural nature.
The Festival features food, music and cultural performances along a lantern-lit scenic street, one of Kuching’s oldest streets.
There will be a lantern-making competition for the KIMF at Plaza Merdeka Shopping Mall on September 17, and the participants’ creations will be displayed as decorations for the duration of the festival. For more information on the lantern competition read here..
The Sarawak Regatta – Kuching Waterfront Festival 2018 will be held from Oct 26 to Nov 4, 2018 at Kuching Waterfront.
The regatta itself will take place along the 1.3 km of the Sarawak River along the Kuching Waterfront where the event will be surrounded by exciting local attractions like food and souvenir markets, cultural stage performances and water sports.
This annual event is a showcase of long boat races with participation from various government agencies, private sectors and also participants from villages and longhouses throughout Sarawak as well as boaters from neighbouring countries of Indonesia and Brunei.
The coveted grand prize of the event is the “Raja Sungai” or King of the River title, with teams of 30 paddlers cutting through the Sarawak River at breakneck speeds to see who will win the crown.
The Sarawak Regatta has been a significant annual event since 1872 during the era of James Brooke, when it was used as a method of stopping racial wars and headhunting through sportsmanship, using boat races to prove power and strength of the different longhouses folks instead of conducting battles among themselves.
The Sarawak Tourism Board participated in the Travel Industry Exhibition (TIE) in Sydney, Australia on August 22, resulting in a successful networking opportunities and interactions with potential Aussie buyers on Sarawak’s new tourism destination.
“We have had the most fruitful time out of this unique opportunity at TIE meeting travel industry partners in Australia and showcasing our unique experiences of Sibu and Sarawak in general”, says Ling How Kang of Sibu based Greatown Travel.
Prior to the event, the delegation has also visited Malaysia Airlines’ Sydney office and Tourism Malaysia Sydney and held discussion centred on key challenges to improve visitors experience and air-connectivity.
The very least that can be done was to make the travel journey comfortable through reduction of transit and waiting time which is one of the important key elements in ensuring the best travel experience to Sarawak.
Sarawak has received persistent demand from Australian travellers despite the lack of direct flights but visitors’ arrivals from Australia are growing.
With Sarawak’s recognition as “Malaysia’s Favourite Destination” at the September’s Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair, Sarawak Tourism Board is now confident of achieving the target set at 4.8 million visitors’ arrival this year.
This is the second year in a row Sarawak is bestowed with this title, the first being in the MATTA September fair last year.
As Malaysia’s largest consumer fair, STB will work with MATTA’s Sarawak Chapter to leverage on this consumer forum to push new packages and introduce variety of Sarawak tourism experiences to West Malaysian.
“Places such as Sibu, Mukah and the fishing village Kabong and the interior of central Sarawak ought to give visitors an idea of our rich diversified cultures and abundance of local heritage,” Benedict Jimbau, Director of Marketing for Sarawak Tourism Board said during the MATTA Fair press conference on August 29 at MATTA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
Sarawak offers a value for money experiences where nature and cultural experiences and are at its best and the State is set to receive more arrivals from the domestic markets for the coming year end holiday season, he added.
The Sarawak Pavilion is located at Hall 5, Booth (# 5042 – 5046 and 5053 – 5057) with 14 booths taken by Sarawak agents and hotels promoting every tour imaginable, from its culinary to self-drive holidays, rainforest kayaking and adventure caving.
There will be grand lucky draws at the pavilion and also daily lucky draws for those buying packages.
MATTA Fair will take place on Sept 7-9 at the Putra World Trade Centre.
