KUCHING – WAK Festival 2026 will bring events across 62 venues in Kuching throughout October, with organisers highlighting a growing network of partners and collaborators behind the festival’s eighth edition.
The festival’s 2026 calendar was unveiled on Thursday, 20 August, at The Spring Kuching, providing an early look at the programme planned for the month-long arts, culture and lifestyle event.
Festival directors said the latest edition has been shaped by the continued involvement of Kuching’s creative community, building on eight editions in the city as well as three editions each in Sibu and Miri.
WAK began in 2017 with the aim of bringing arts, culture and lifestyle activities into different parts of Kuching. Since then, organisers said the platform has developed into a wider network involving creative practitioners, venues, businesses, technical teams, media organisations, volunteers and other partners.
For the 2026 edition, the festival has 62 partners, comprising 10 festival partners, eight staging and technical partners, 12 marketing and media partners, eight hotel partners and 24 venue partners.
The 62 participating venues will be used for a variety of activities during October, with organisers describing them as spaces for performances, exhibitions, gatherings and other forms of creative engagement.
The programme will cover 14 genres, including music, comedy, visual arts, performance, culture, food and lifestyle.
Media partner Sarawak Daily will support the month-long programme by providing exclusive coverage and real-time information to the public throughout the festival.
Festival directors said the range of activities reflected WAK’s approach of encouraging the creative community to propose new ideas and develop programmes that may be experimental or different from conventional festival formats.
They also pointed to the involvement of both emerging and established practitioners, saying the festival continues to attract younger people who are organising events alongside experienced names returning with new projects.
International and new collaborators are also part of the 2026 network. Returning names mentioned during the calendar reveal included Canon and The Japan Foundation, while new collaborators include Frontrow Asia and Friends of Sarawak Museum.
Another area highlighted by the organisers was the response to registration for WAKA volunteers. The strong interest, they said, indicated that members of the public were interested not only in attending events but also in taking an active role in the festival.
The directors also acknowledged the extensive work required behind the public-facing programme, including planning, logistics, production, technical operations, marketing and coordination with venues and collaborators.
The Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak was recognised as the festival’s main sponsor and a long-standing partner. Organisers said continued support from the ministry had contributed to the festival’s development over its eight editions.
Other groups acknowledged at the launch included venue operators, staging and technical teams, marketing and media partners, hotels and hospitality providers, sponsors, supporters, volunteers and the individual collaborators contributing events to the programme.
The festival directors said the collective contribution of these groups was central to WAK’s development and reinforced its “By the Community, For the Community” approach.
Under that model, artists, venues, partners, volunteers and audiences all form part of the wider festival network. The organisers said this shared participation had become one of the defining characteristics of WAK.
The 2026 calendar reveal therefore serves not only as a programme announcement but also as an indication of the scale of the network supporting this year’s festival.
With activities distributed across 62 venues and spanning 14 genres, the organisers expect the October programme to engage a broad cross-section of Kuching’s creative community and audiences.
The festival directors said WAK remained focused on evolving and experimenting, while welcoming both returning participants and newcomers to the platform.
The 2026 edition will continue the festival’s development in Kuching while building on its wider presence in Sibu and Miri. Its organisers say the latest programme reflects the contribution of a community that has expanded in size and capability since the festival began nine years ago.
WAK Festival 2026 will take place throughout October, with the newly released calendar allowing audiences, collaborators and visitors to begin planning their participation in the programme.
