Borneo Arts Festival 2019 @ Financial Park Labuan

Big thanks to Tourism Malaysia, I just came back from an exclusive 4D 3N media fam trip to Federal Territory of Labuan for the celebration of the Borneo Arts Festival 2019 with fellow bloggers and Youtubers from KL and Sabah. Labuan, also known as 'The Pearl of Borneo' is a small island located about 8km off the coast of Sabah. This beautiful island comprises of one main island and six smaller islands namely Pulau Burung, Pulau Daat, Pulau Kuraman, Pulau Papan, Pulau Rusukan Kecil and Pulau Rusukan Besar. Labuan got its name from 'labuhan' which means harbour in Malay and was established as a Federal Territory on 16 April 1984. Aside from the Borneo Arts Festival, our trip also covers the island's attractions, must-see, must-do and good food, which I will share more in my next post.

How to get to Labuan from KL? 

We took Malaysia Airlines and touched down at Labuan Airport after 2 hours of flight. Malaysia Airlines fly to Labuan from Kuala Lumpur with a total of 16 weekly flights.

BORNEO ARTS FESTIVAL 

Borneo Arts Festival was held at Financial Park Labuan from 27 Sept to 29 Sept 2019 showcases visual arts competition, traditional ethnic costumes and a variety of cultural and contemporary performances such as Mukun, Tarian Kreatif Borneo and Catan Batik. The annual festival also highlights the unique, rich and colourful Bornean culture which includes traditional food, arts and crafts.

 Doodle Art Battle 

Henna Art 

Mukun Seborneo Competition

A handful of exhibition booths featuring visual arts, handicrafts and agro-based exhibitions. 

Borneo Creative Fashion 

Afenddy Arifin from Kota Kinabalu won the 'Borneo Creative Fashion' with his amazing creation of 'Guardian of Santubong'.

Awesome, right? All these colourful and stunning costumes combining traditional and modern elements truly leave me in awe.

Borneo Creative Dance 

'Stadansa' emerged as the champion of the creative dance competition. The super talented dance group comprised of 18 dancers from Sekolah SRK St Agnes, aged between 10-12 years old were also the biggest winner of the night. Wow... kecil-kecil cili api! (small but mighty)

  Borneo Arts Festival Appreciation Night

The Borneo Arts Festival appreciation night was held on 29 September with opening act by BrothaHoodzz Project and special appearance by Anthony Roger from England and Sidi Gambus of Island Twister Band. 

Tingkah Geruh (battle dance) takes joget and zapin to a whole new level. Whether it's a one-on-one battle or group battle, I am really amazed with their energy level, they were literally flying.

Another highlight of the evening was the mesmerizing performance by Ismail Izzani.

The Borneo Arts Festival ended on a high note with everyone dancing 'joget' the night away.

The Borneo Arts Festival was truly amazing with captivating creations and wonderful performances, it was such an eye-opening experience. I really enjoyed it and look forward to coming back again next year!

A big thank you to all the sponsors, namely Tourism Malaysia, Labuan Corporation, Malaysia Airlines and MASwings, I am really thankful to be part of it. Next up, The Best of Labuan. Stay tuned!