Rainforest World Music Festival - Best Annual Events Malaysia

 Indonesia's Rafli Wa SAJA to headline Rainforest Music Festival 2013

The region's best festival of world music is held for three days every June or July in the Malaysian Borneo state of Sarawak.  Directions, location, costs, hotels.

The annual outdoor Rainforest World Music Festival, held near Kuching, next runs from June 20-22, 2014. So far, no further details of the 2014 festival, stay tuned.

Among 2012's year's leading performers were the percussion band Gema SLDN-SCV  and sape player Maya Green  from Sarawak, Australian aboriginal singers and dancers Nunukul Yuggera, Korean dancers Palsandae and  Indonesia's Rafli Wa SAJA  ensemble ( Rafli, or Rafly, is the singer above)

You can see the full 2012 schedule and download a program here.  The headliners perform at night but there are also workshops during the day. These tend to be more interactive and include both the main acts  and some local musicians. Workshops this year will present stories and songs of Borneo's Bidayuh people, Jamaican singers, Malay gamelan players, Bandari dance and song from southern Iran, Korean folk songs, and a Chinese chamber ensemble.

Singapore Food Festival in July - Best Annual Events Singapore

Malay satay 

July's Singapore Food Festival has meals and events for all ages and price ranges. Locals and tourists are welcome. What/When/Where/How much.

Singapore's World Gourmet Summit is the annual food festival foreigners are more likely to recognize. But the week-long Singapore Food Festival--next to run July 12 to 21, 2013--is actually more popular, supposedly attracting more than 400,000 participants each year. It features more family-friendly outdoor events and friendlier prices. Rather than Michelin-starred French and Italian chefs, the cooks here are all almost all local and even include some of the stellar street vendors.

Launched in 1994 by the Singapore Tourism Board, the Singapore Food Festival (SFF) used to run for a month. The 20th edition will span nine days.

George Town Festival of Penang - Best Annual Events Malaysia

The mid-year Georgetown (or George Town) arts festival is a month of music, dance and visual art featuring artists from Malaysia and other countries.

Finland's Blinded Mind dance troupe: performing July 4 in Penang

As you might guess from the above photo of a Finnish dancer in Blinded Mind, Penang's annual arts festival has a decided contemporary emphasis. There are some traditional performances--such as the demonstration of the Malay martial art silat and the sacred songs of the Philippine Madrigal Singers at the 2012 festival. But you're more likely to see something like the Lee Wushu theater company, which "merges the traditional martial art of Wushu with contemporary dance forms to create a unique stage performance."