The Sibu International Dance Festival (SIDF) was initiated and organized by Hornland Dance Theatre in Sibu, Malaysia. It made its debut in 2012 with Sibu Municipal Council’s acknowledgement and support. Conceived as an annual event, SIDF is planned to be held during the mid-term school holidays in the second half of the Malaysian academic year, in Sibu—the largest town in the central region of Sarawak. Situated along the Rejang River, the longest river in Southeast Asia, Sibu provides a distinctive cultural and geographical setting for the festival.

The 12th edition of SIDF will be held in 29 August – 2 September, 2026 (Five days). The components of the festival are:

1 Gala and Opening Night
2 International Folk/Line Dance Night
3 International Children Dance Night
4 International Indigenous Dance Night
5 International Dance Concert
6 International Food Fair and Handicraft
7 Dance Workshop
8 Dance Seminar
9 Outdoor Site-specific Performance at Sibu Central Market
10 Outdoor Site-specific Performance at Sibu Esplanade
11 Poster Exhibition of SIDF past years

The festival is open to all kinds of dances, traditional or contemporary, for all-age group and of all races and cultures, both locally and internationally.

The activities of the festival extend from indoor stages to outdoor stages, and even onto the corners of the streets. It aspires to draw and encourage more people to join the festival and be more directly and personally involved with the performers and their performances.

SIDF also aims to become the world platform for artists and arts organization on local, regional and international levels to exchange dialogs, concepts, experiments, explorations and display the diversity of dances, and of course, to facilitate the development of tourism, arts and culture in this region through this event.

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