Borneo Cultural Festival, abbreviated as BCF, is an annual festival of

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

, and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

that places a focus on

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to Monoculturalism, monoculture. It has a variety of meanings in different contexts, sometimes applying to cultural products like art works in museums or entertainment ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. The festival is held in

Sibu Sibu is a landlocked city located in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. It serves as the capital of Sibu District within Sibu Division and is situated on the island of Borneo. Covering an area of , the city is positioned at the conf ...

, one of the major towns in the state of

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, and was first organised in 2002. The festival regularly takes place in July, and is organised by the Sibu Municipal Council (SMC).

History

BCF was originally known as ''Pesta Sibu'' before going through several name changes, such as ''Millennium Celebration'' and ''Borneo Tribal Extravaganza''. Since 2005, BCF is held by Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) in July every year at Sibu Town Square, for a period of 10 days. It is a celebration of traditional music, dances, contests, beauty pageant, food stalls, fun fairs, and product exhibitions. There are 3 separate stages for Iban, Chinese, and Malay performances. It draws around 20,000 people every year. Besides cultural performances, ''Kumang Borneo Dayak Cultural Festival''- a traditional beauty pageant- are held at the Dayak stage of BCF. Beginning 2023 edition, an International Night will be added on top of three traditional signature nights, namely Chinese Night, Malay/Melanau Night and Dayak Night.

Hiatus

BCF was stopped briefly in 2011 before it was resumed in 2012. The festival also went on a two-year hiatus due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020 and 2021.

Event

Historically, the venue of the main event will be held in

town square so as the trade fair and the exhibition will be held on the second phase of the town square. Usually the main town square which is located next to Wisma Sanyan will be utilised by the stages and food stalls.

Dates of the Festival

Gallery

References

External links

* {{official, http://sarawaktourism.com/event/borneo-cultural-festival
Blogger ''Sixth Seal'' Coverage on Borneo Cultural Festival
Culture of Malaysia Festivals established in 2002 Festivals in Malaysia Events in Sarawak