This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 15, 2016.

Urbanscapes is back for its 14th year, and its set to return to where it all started — in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Not only that, the creative arts festival covering music, theatre, design, art installations, markets, and experiential events will be reimagined and broadened into a city-wide celebration spanning three weekends. 

Founder Adrian Yap says that it’s all about returning to the festival’s roots, “After 14 years, [we are] rediscovering the urban environment it started from. The entire city is now our festival site.” 

The historic Medan Pasar square will be taken over as the pulse of the event, where all five floors of the old OCBC bank building — a heritage building for its art deco facade — is being transformed into Urbanscapes House, the festival’s hub. Occupying five floors, it will host art activities, markets, a café, and a skate and visual art exhibition, Cannot Be Boardered, featuring works by 26 artists from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. 

The basement level within the bank’s old vault will be an on-site specific theatre production entitled The Vicious Cycle (April 29 to May 1) where attendees will be invited to follow its protagonists along their journey of truth and deceit, and along with it the inevitable conflict of emotions. 

Urbanscapes markets will include themed-based ones such as urban culture, arts & crafts and fashion retail. Up on the rooftop, expect thematic food markets where some of Malaysia’s best food vendors have been selected to peddle their gastronomic bites. The Generalist collective also returns with their “experiential” focused Market of Experiences that involves participation and engagement with those who attend. 

The festival has always been a draw for its music line-up, and this year KL Live becomes its mainstage. Besides the recently announced participation of Australian rock band Tame Impala (April 23) and France-Los Angeles electronic band M83 (May 7), English drum and bass outfit Rudimental will also be performing on May 1, while Malaysian indie rock band Hujan will share a stage with Ipoh rockets Bittersweet on April 24. 

The Bee Publika will also play host to several more intimate gigs, such as The Night Before Tomorrow (NB4T) by homegrown rapper Jin Hackman and Juice Malaysia. Presenting sounds usually not heard on the Kuala Lumpur nightlife, there will be genres played such as seapunk, vapourware, witch house, UK bass, and footwork, to name a few. Singaporean experimental art rock band, The Observatory, will also screen their music documentary followed by a live music showcase of their latest album. 

Vinyl enthusiasts’ collective Musika Publika will also host a music party with pre-loved vinyls, to cds and cassettes, available for music enthusiasts to purchase. The festival will conclude with a street party from 4pm to 9pm on May 8 at Medan Pasar, where Malaysia’s art and creative communities will come together to deliver street performances, art installations and more. 

For more information on ticketing and full schedule, visit urbanscapes.com.my.