Borneo Sonic Music Festival (BSMF) is the largest music festival of its kind in Malaysia Borneo, having over 30,000 attendees for a paying concert over the span of two days.
The very first BSMF will be held from 6 – 7 October 2023 in Kuching, Sarawak, while the second one will be happening on 11 – 12 October 2024.
What to expect
Formal details on the festival were released on 10 August 2023, with the Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah given the honours to announce the line-up for the 2023 edition of the festival.
The minister said that the festival, which is organized by BME (International) Malaysia Sdn Bhd, alongside co-organizers Skyline Entertainment and Dream Factory Entertainment, signifies a milestone in the region’s cultural landscape, being the first-ever and the biggest music event of its kind in Borneo.
BSMF dates
Below are the dates for the festival. Click on the dates to know read articles about BSMF in that particular year.
- 2023: 6 – 7 October
- 2024: 11 -12 October
Borneo Sonic Music Festival tickets
Ticket prices differ according to category with the festival offering 6 categories of tickets as seen below. In 2023, the tickets prices were seen below.
- VIP zone for two days: RM1,288
- CAT-1 for two days: RM888
- CAT-2 for two days: RM788
- CAT-3 for two days: RM688
- CAT-4 for two days: RM588
- CAT-5 for two days: RM488
Seating of each category can be seen below.
Tickets were be sold from 18 August 2023 with the organizers selling 30,000 fans through the festivals official website.
An individual can only buy a maximum of 4 tickets per email address.
Payment for the tickets can be done using FPX bank transfer, Grab Pay-later and credit card.
Once you are able to buy a ticket, you should be receiving an email detailing when you can collect the physical ticket/wristband which will be used during the festival.
One day passes were later announced for VIP and CAT-1 with the prices seen below.
- VIP 1-day pass: RM831 (either day)
- CAT-1 1-day pass: RM660 (either day)
Those buying VIP one day passes will not be entitled to limited edition VIP boxes.
For the 2024 edition, ticketing was further improved with tickets called ‘Super Early Birds’ introduced.
Tickets prices were also made more affordable, with the organizers now allowing single day ticket purchase. Ticket prices for the Borneo Sonic Music festival 2024 started from RM198 and went up to RM1088.
The prices of tickets can be seen below, with their promotional rates and full rates also seen.
The organizers also decided to do away with seated seats, as all tickets were now free standing, with VIPs able to get free drinks during the concert.
BSMF wristband
Aside from being the physical ticket to enter the grounds of the festival, the Borneo Sonic wristband will also act as an e-wallet and cannot be removed during the whole two days of the festival.
Lost, removed or damaged wristbands will cause you to lose access into the festival and you will need to pay full price to regain access.
Entry into the festival will be using electronic turnstiles.
Entry into the festival grounds
To control the anticipated crowd, organizers intends to limit the number of people entering the venue at a time with only 500 people allowed to enter at a time.
The policy of entrance is known as ‘First-Buy-First-Entry’, which meant each category’s first 500 ticket buyers will enter the venue first followed by the next 500 purchasers and so forth.
To facilitate this, the organizers also released a detailed layout which now includes the numbers for each zone as seen below.
This means while you are able to choose your concert zones, you are not able to choose your seats, as well as when you enter as it will be automatically allocated when you purchase the tickets. There is also a chance you may not be seating with your friends if you buy the tickets separately.
CAT-5 zone remains free seating and could be your best chance to sit with your large group of friends if you are not purchase tickets at the free-standing VIP and CAT-1 zones.
Borneo Sonic Music Festival performer list
Here are the list of past and present performers for BSMF.
It features international renowned artist from all over the world including Malaysia as seen below.
- BSMF 2023:
- Taeyang of Big Bang (Korea)
- CL (Korea)
- HYO (Korea)
- Suho of EXO (Korea)
- Havana Brown (Australia)
- Fatman Scoop (America)
- Ning Baizura (Malaysia)
- Dolla (Malaysia)
- Belle Sisoski (Malaysia
- Yung kai (Malaysia)
- Nike Chen (Taiwan)
- Majin
- Melo Moon (Canada)
- BG8LOOC (Taiwan)
- BSMF 2024
- RAIN (Korea)
- Youngjae of Got7 (Korea)
- Judika (Indonesia)
- Bunga Cinta Lestari (Indonesia)
- DJ Ujoo (Korea)
- Yuna (Malaysia)
- Junny (Canada)
- 4EVE (Thailand)
- Priscilla Abby (Malaysia)
- Yoo Seobin (Korea)
- DOLLA (Malaysia)
- DJ Blink (Malaysia)
- Jess Lee (Malaysia)
- Natalie La Rose (USA)
- Slumberjack (Australia)
- Zed-X (Malaysia)
Borneo Sonic Music Festival venue
The festival will be held at the 40,000 seater Sarawak Stadium, which is the largest open space event venue in Borneo Malaysia to date.
The location of Stadium Sarawak can be seen below.
The stadium is not connected by any scheduled public transportation. This means you will need to use ride hailing services or rent a car or bike if you wish to go to the venue.
Nonetheless, since the BSMF is a major event, expect the organizers to prepare shuttle bus services from major hotels in Kuching City to ferry fans to the venue on both days.
Where to stay during Borneo Sonic Music Festival
If you are planning to come to the festival, hotels in the middle of the city are the best options.
This is because the organizers of the festival are expected to follow what has been practiced during the hugely popular Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) by providing bus service to and from the venue.
That said, based on past experience of shuttle service to the RWMF, the hotels below come recommended as they will likely offer minimal walking to the shuttle bus stops.
- Harbour View Hotel
- Hilton Kuching
- John’s Place, Kuching, Sarawak
- Abell Hotel
- Abell Residence
- Astana Wing – Riverside Majestic Hotel Kuching
- Grand Margherita Hotel
- Harbour View Hotel
- Hilton Kuching
- Imperial Riverbank Hotel Kuching
- John’s Place, Kuching, Sarawak
- Pullman Kuching
- Riverside Majestic Hotel
- The Ranee Boutique Suites
- The Waterfront Hotel Kuching
- Tune Hotel – Waterfront Kuching
If you do not want to use my recommendations above and prefer to book hotels by yourself, make sure they are located in the city centre.
Note that there is no hotels nearby Stadium Sarawak, and even nearby accommodation (homestay) will probably require you to walk about 10-20 minutes to the stadium.
Avoid any beach hotels because they will be far from the venue and transportation may be difficult.
More on Borneo Sonic
If you want to learn more about Borneo Sonic, or find things related to Borneo Sonic, check out the links below.
- READ more articles about Borneo Sonic Music Festival
- BUY concert going attire
- VISIT official site
- Book a hotel in Kuching
