KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — Nusa Fest 2023, a two-day music and art festival celebrating the Nusantara culture, will be held early next year.
The showcase will be staged on February 4 and 5 at Bandar Malaysia, which was formerly the site of the Sungai Besi airport.
In total, there will be 22 acts from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia gracing the stage that weekend.
Ska band Gerhana Skacinta, hip-hop group Force Park Bois, reggae group Salammusik, indie rock band Iqbal M and percussion group White Percussion Unit are the confirmed Malaysian performers.
As for Indonesia and Singapore, acts include The Pinholes, Fourtwnty, Diskoria, Kunto Aji, Hindia and Dipha Barus. The main headliners are yet to be announced.
Nusa Fest was initially slated for 2020 but the festival had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It had to rejig the lineup of performers which was previously announced in 2020.
According to the organiser and director of Shiraz Project, Shirazdeen Abdul Karim, the main reason the lineup had to be redone was because some of the singers had recently performed in Malaysia.
"For example, Indonesian singer Raisa had just performed here two weeks ago. The time gap for her to come back to Malaysia was too short.
"The second reason is, it’s been three years (since the announcement) so we have to re-look at the current artists. As we’re depending on ticket sales, if the artist couldn’t attract their own audience and fans, it will be hard for us to pull this off.
"So we had to review the performers and I think this time, it's much better than the 2020 lineup,” said Shirazdeen, adding that the cost for the festival is RM4 million.
On the recent backlash regarding another festival's poor management, Shirazdeen assured that he and his team are doing their best to give concertgoers a memorable experience.
"On our end, we don't take things lightly. The entire team is discussing daily how we can do things better.
"I can give you my assurance that I will do my very best,” he said.
According to Gerhana Skacinta guitarist and frontman Edy J Herwan, the band had carried preparation work for the 2020 show but it had to be benched following the lockdowns at that time.
"So we are honoured to be part of Nusa Fest next year. And there will be some surprises from us,” he promised.
At Nusa Fest, Indonesian acoustic folk band Fourtwnty will be debuting some tracks from their upcoming studio album, according to lead singer Ari Lesmana.
As for Iqbal, who is the frontman of Iqbal M, he sees Nusa Fest as an opportunity to discover international musicians and to gain more input in improving their performances.
He also hopes to see audiences live in the moment during the two-day fest.
"What I hope for is that those who attend would come to enjoy it.
"Keep your mobile phones in your bag and just enjoy the show till the end. Don’t be bothered with social media postings,” he said.
The general admission ticket for two days is RM350 while a bundle of four tickets will cost RM1,200.
For more information, visit https://mynetzahp.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/92548
