Urbanscapes is home-grown creative arts festival, which was started in 2002 with the aim of bringing together the local creative communities in various fields, including design, music, arts, film, and other creative disciplines.

Since its genesis 14 years ago, Urbanscapes has grown to become an internationally known and attended event which includes both local and international talent. Performers that have graced the event in the past include Yuna, Paperplane Pursuits, and Franz Ferdinand.

This year, Urbanscapes spans various locations around Kuala Lumpur, including KL Live Centre and the Urbanscapes House in Medan Pasar. Attendees can expect to enjoy performances by various local and international acts like Rudimental, Tame Impala and Hujan.

Over three weekends, Urbanscapers can take part various creative workshops such as building a terranium with Ohsum Mossum Terrarium, or learning the art of calligraphy with KLigraphy.

Many of the events require a ticket or registration but there are free things that you can enjoy as well including the Cannot Be Bo(a)rded exhibition on skate culture, public art installations around the city and the Urbanscapes closing party at Medan Pasar to round-off the three weekend-long festival.

Music

Urbanscapes is going big with 15 musical acts this year spread across various venues. Local performers to look forward to are Malaysian veterans Hujan, who will be playing at KL Live, and OAG who will be making an appearance at the closing party.

Hujan formed in 2005 and shot to the top with their debut single ‘Pagi Yang Gelap’, while OAG have been on the scene since 1994, paving the way for local punk rock music.

Other acts to look out for are Australian rock band Tame Impala and English four piece group Rudimental who have made it big, even collaborating with Ed Sheeran on the song “Lay it All on Me”. Check out the complete line up of music acts at urbanscapes.com.my.

Arts

Anyone interested in visual arts will be able to catch exhibitions by Cwnd Dien (pronounced Cawan Din) who hails from Kajang and is known for his sketches inspired by street art, comics and toys. Street art fans will also be able to enjoy works by the well-known KATUN who is fond of reinterpreting cartoon characters with his own flair.

If you’re more interested in rolling up your sleeves and creating some art of your own, you can sign up for a craft workshop with The Craft Crowd to design your own prints or learn the basics of watercolour painting with Weekendiminlove.

For more art workshops and exhibitions, check out urbanscapes.com.my.

Markets

For some creative fun, you can check out the markets. Tiffin x Urbanscapes is a food market that will be a as fun as it is tasty. There will be an Urbanscapes Café where the menu is a a collboration between A Pie Thing, Souka, Dah Makan, Softsrv, Smooshie Juice, and Quartet.

One weekend will see a themed food market where you can enjoy concoctions inspired by pop culture, while another weekend will feature an art and crafts food market where you’re free to customise your meals.

Another market to look out for is the Market of Experiences. As the name suggests, this market will include myriad booths offering interesting experiences from an interactive headline generator to a game of ping pong with a twist and even a book-flower exchange where you can get a book for free in exchange of making a bouquet of flowers to be given to a random stranger.

Tickets

Some events in the festival are free for all to enjoy while others require a ticket which can be purchased ahead of time or at the door, depending on the event. Also, some workshops require advance registration. To find out if you need a ticket for the event you’re interested in checking out, please refer to the line-up list on the Urbanscapes website.

Schedule

Here’s the schedule of events for the 2016 Urbanscapes festival:

If you’d like to know more, head over to urbanscapes.com.my for the complete line up and ticketing information.