Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has praised the organisers of What About Kuching (WAK) for transforming October from being a slow month previously into an exciting time bustling with activities for the city folks.

Established in 2017, the community-driven festival has now grown into a colossal force, says the minister, adding that throughout October last year, it had played host to 181 captivating contents, involved 59 collaborators, and recorded audience footfall number of 331,687.

“After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, we’re awed by the response to WAK last year,” said Abdul Karim during a press conference yesterday, called to announce the festival.

Adding on, he also expressed hope for WAK to eventually become a self-sustaining programme.

In this respect, he encouraged the event organisers to invite more sponsors as partners towards the goal of making WAK ‘something bigger, and set an example for other organisers’.

He said WAK would need more partners, specifically those from the private sector, to share the financial commitment and investments meant for the organisation of the festival.

“To me, the private-sector sponsors hold the key to making WAK’s month-long extravaganza a resounding success; thus, I wish to make a heartfelt plea to more private-sector sponsors, for them to come on board and support this homegrown festival that aspires to achieve the loftiest world standards, and also a platform that we can all be proud of in the future.

“Nonetheless, I have no doubt about WAK achieving the vision of becoming the biggest regional open access festival, placing Kuching city on the global festival map as it forges strongly forward. The festival’s success is a testament to the dedication and passion of its strong team and definitely, Kuching’s creative community,” he said.

Meanwhile, the organisers have kicked off their ‘Call for Proposals’ (CFP) platform for WAK 2023, where interested collaborators can access the CFP forms and other comprehensive festival information via www.aboutkuching.com.

“The website shows step-by-step instructions for the submission of proposals, which must be submitted within the set deadline,” they said in a statement.

Also present during the press conference were Abdul Karim’s deputies Datuk Sebastian Ting and Datuk Snowdan Lawan, as well as WAK 2023 director Donald Tan.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by MATTHEW UMPANG

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