Miri International Jazz Festival (MIJF) is now renamed Borneo Jazz. Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism and Heritage Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam announced this yesterday at a press conference held at his office. The event will be held at the Parkcity Everly Hotel, Miri from May 13-14, 2011. The rationale behind this change is to bring the event at par with other international festivals. This renaming is also to capitalize on the destination Borneo, a name which conjurs images of a magical destination. With this change, comes a reimaging to reflect the vibrancy of this festival and the destination.As part of Sarawak Tourism Board’s transformation and continuous improvement, the organizing of this festival is geared towards a commercial basis to bring it to greater heights. As such the organization of the festival for 2011, will be undertaken by STB Leisure & Properties, a subsidiary of Sarawak Tourism Board (STB). STB however will continue to focus on the marketing and promotion of the event itself.
Under the transformation, new initiatives have also been planned, among them, the Internship and Volunteers Program whereby STB, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, will collaborate with the academia as part of an industry advisory platform in enhancing the quality of graduates that is relevant to the need of the industry. The intent of this program is to provide a unique learning experience for international volunteers and interns whilst at the same time being exposed to the product experiences of Sarawak’s culture, nature and adventure on the island of Borneo. The aim is to have 70% of students participating in this programme from outside Sarawak. This is another step towards bringing the festival to the international arena.
The Board is also collaborating with private sectors to design packages to attract visitors not only from Peninsula Malaysia, neighbouring Brunei and Singapore but also from the region and overseas, eg in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Australia & Europe. With these packages, visitors would be able to attend the festival at night and during the day, they can visit places of interest or participate in the local activities.
Next year’s Borneo Jazz will be an exciting one with its extension to a 3-day event. The festival will see new features around few venues in Miri, Sarawak. It will kick-off with the Opening Night on Friday, 12 May 2011 which will be opened to the public. There will also be musical meetings during Saturday afternoon of the festival followed by a Sunday Matinee. Tickets will be offered for sale to the public. Featuring at the festival is the headline act, Grammy nominated Maria Muldaur from the United States. Sharing the stage will be Cunha & Piper from Brazil,Les Doigts De L'Homme from France, SIU2 from Hong Kong,State of Monc from Holland, Miri born, Victor Yong and the Electric Carnival from Malaysia/Canadaand Yuichiro Tokuda's RALYZZ DIG from Japan. They will feature a range of jazz genre fromgypsy jazz to traditional jazz.
As in previous years, previews will also be held and may be extended even to KL and Singapore.
For 2011, the Board hopes to attract 4,800 visitors from outside Sarawak. This will augur well for the local business community and also contribute significantly to the arrival figures to the state as a whole.
Daily tickets priced at RM60 for adults and RM30 for children aged 3 to 12 are now available on-line at www.ticketcharge.com.my. For purchase/booking/enquiries please call TicketCharge Hotline: +603-9222 8811 or at TicketCharge @ No 42A-1, Jalan Metro Pudu, Fraser Business Park, Off Jalan Yew, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tickets will also be available at Visitors’ Information Centres in Kuching, Sibu and Miri, Sarawak from March 2011 onwards. Watch out also for ticket specials.
Besides the good music and great company we will also have stalls selling a wide variety of local and fusion food and beverages as well as festival memorabilia at the venue.
Look out for more new and exciting initiatives for the coming Jazz festival!
For more details, kindly log on to www.jazzborneo.com
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