Tonight was the first night of the Penang World Music Festival, held at the Botanical Gardens, amongst the beautiful background of the Penang Hill forest and at the surroundings of the Botanical gardens.
I love my home town. Penang is about the people, the food, heritage and culture. Tonight’s event is all about bringing World Music to Penang, to showcase the talent and passion of other countries, and to unite everyone through the sound of music.
A few of the performers:
1. World Grammy Nominee, N’Faly Kouyate’ & Dunyakan from West Africa/Belgium. N’Faly was traditionally brought up as musician and a Griot – a cultural ambassador of West Africa
2. Carlos DjeDje and the Protecters, a social-conscious reggae band from South Africa, uses music to spread the message of peace and highlights the importance of protecting the environment
3. Nading Rhapsody, made up of young musicians of various ethnic backgrounds from Sarawak, infuses the distinctive spirit of ethnic folk songs, ritual chanting, lullabies, magic and myths into their music
4. Culture Shot, made up of 6 unique individuals from Penang, from different races and musical training, united by their love for music and culture. Music that’s playful in nature and nostalgic of Old Penang.
For full info go to the official Penang World Music Festival Website
I wasn’t going to share this experience, but then I decided I should. You can decide if it’s silly or not.
The indigenous group from Sarawak, Nading Rhapsody performed tonight a traditional chant for all those who have passed on, a chant to send them off safely. The song was dedicated to those who have lost loved ones. Immediately, I paid attention. My mum passed away over a month ago and my dad passed away 2 years ago.
One of the musicians gathered the group to sit in a line facing the audience, near the front of the stage. They waited for silence and then they started to sing. The chant was hauntingly beautiful, I could feel shivers down my spine.
It was a hot and still night. There was no wind and my friends had been commenting on this all evening. About halfway through the chanting, the strongest gust of wind blew across the field and thunder rumbled in the distance. I looked up to see if it was going to rain, the tropical weather can change at any moment, but the sky was clear and the moon and stars were shining brightly upon us. I turned to my friend who was sitting next to me and asked if he felt the gush of wind. Of course he did, that I didn’t imagine. Then I proceeded to tell him about local beliefs. Since this song was about sending the spirits off, locals believe that the wind is a sign that the spirits are present. The wind blew for a few seconds and then the air was still again. There was no wind for the rest of the evening…
If you want to listen to them live, they will be performing at the Rainforest World Music Festival 2014 in Sarawak
Picnic gear and dancing was the theme of the night! It was a lot of fun and a spiritual experience for me.
Maybe see you next year 🙂
BulanLifestyle.com 
April 22, 2014 at 11:55
it was indeed fun! 🙂
April 21, 2014 at 17:07
What fun. . . .
April 13, 2014 at 16:37
Thank you David. It did bring me comfort and it reminded me that there is so much we don’t understand about the spiritual world. I like to believe that my parents are reunited now and looking out for us. Hugs xx
April 13, 2014 at 08:20
I’m so glad you enjoyed the show but even more glad that Nadang Rhapsody decided to do their traditional chant which brought the wind that no doubt gave you some comfort to know your Mum was with you for a few moments at least.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
April 13, 2014 at 06:18
I’m glad you enjoyed reading about it 🙂