Early morning bike ride through rural roads.
Pulling off a rave outdoor event involving tens of exciting activities and thousands of participants might need the social enterprise model. The recent Lenggong Outdoor Festival in Perak showed how successful it can be.
Business management gurus define social enterprises as endeavours where maximising profits is not the primary goal. These projects aim to maximise benefits to society and the environment, using financial aspects as the means to achieve these social goals.
After the sun sets, it’s time for concerts at Lenggong Outdoor Festival.
Executed properly in line with its societal and environmental goals, social enterprises create a groundswell of participation.
This was how the Lenggong Outdoor Festival attracted over 30 outdoor groups and sponsors, and about 2,000 participants.
A sharp turn at windsurfing.
Organised by Lenggong district council and a community group called Locco, the festival took place from June 28-30 at Tasik Raban Resort, a government facility managed by the council.
Participants had the chance to try kayaking, paddleboarding, flatland skimboarding, windsurfing and rappelling down Raja Muda Nazrin Bridge onto a waiting boat on Tasik Raban.
When night falls, participants get to try face-painting.
They learned yoga by the lakeside in the early morning and then the pound dance, a fast-paced aerobic dance with drumsticks that simulate drumming, which left them sweating buckets after just a few minutes.
They sat together to learn knot-tying from experts and attended workshops like Camping 101, Hiking 101 and Social Media 101, where photography experts shared how to take breathtaking, well-composed shots outdoors.
An instructor leading participants on a pound dance session.
Participants then sped through a 160m long zipline across the lake, learned to climb trees using rappelling ropes and harnesses, and even used hammocks rigged high up in the trees.
Survival instructors taught them how to start fires, identify edible jungle fruits, leaves and roots.
Nothing like waking up to a cloudy dawn by a lake while camping.
They went cycling, running, caving, hiking, searched for the Rafflesia flower, took an archaeological tour and visited the Perak Man, the oldest, most complete human skeleton ever found in South-East Asia, carbon-dated to be about 11,000 years old and is now housed in Lenggong Valley Archaeological Gallery.
They learned to brew coffee, a prized skill for those tired of drinking three-in-one beverages while camping.
A morning yoga session at Lenggong Outdoor Festival.
Some participants brought their own tents, others rented them, a few drove camper vans to the venue, and yes, others were day-trippers.
Locco director Shamsul Bahrin Zainuzzaman admitted he was not an outdoorsman and did not know much about most of the activities at Lenggong Outdoor Festival.
Flatland skimboarding.
“But throughout Malaysia, there are many groups, associations and clubs that are passionate about such a wide variety of adventures and outdoor pursuits. Our job was to bring them all together to make one grand festival under the sun,” he said.
To achieve this, Shamsul said the district council and Locco kept the cost low.
“We only needed them to contribute basic set-up costs like the tarps, booths and necessary infrastructure. When participants wanted to try some of the premium offerings, they charged a small premium to finance the activities,” he explained.
Trying out a jumbo-sized paddleboard that can sit six paddlers.
For example, those who wished to experience riding a zipline across the lake and rappel down Raja Muda Nazrin Bridge paid RM40 to try both. To go hiking and search for the Rafflesia, the world’s largest flower, it was RM100.
And for all participants who paid the RM120 joining fee, the workshops, sharing sessions, sports clinics, night concerts and several other activities such as kayaking and cycling were included in the package.
“We were grateful that the Perak State Economic Development Corporation sponsored RM30,000 in cash vouchers for participants to use so they could try out the premium activities and at the same time fund the efforts of the outdoor groups who came forward,” Shamsul added.
Off to a thrilling all-terrain vehicle ride.
Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad attended the opening ceremony of the festival.
Mohamad Ridzwan Nazari, also a Locco director, said many of this year’s participants had never even camped before.
A durian party at the festival, courtesy of Lenggong District Council.
“We rented good-quality tents and camping gear to them and had experts show them how to set up camp. It was so satisfying to give them a chance to try camping for the first time,” he said.
Mohamad Ridzwan said this was the third year the outdoor festival was held.
Participants got to learn how to use fine steel wool and a nine-volt battery to start a fire, even in wet weather.
The first took place in 2022 and was conceived after they realised that large groups of people wanted outdoor adventures after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have added many more activities since our first year. We will definitely organise it again, with even more outdoor activities,” he said.
