Gawai which means festival is a beautiful celebration in Sarawak bringing together the Dayak community there.

For those of you who don't know, Dayak is a collective name for the indigenous people in Sarawak.

They are basically made of three ethnic groups - Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu.

The Orang Ulu comprise of 27 very small tribal groups including Kelabit, Kayan, Kenyah, Lun Bawang, Penan, Bisaya and many more.

Gawai is usually celebrated by these communities and is filled with festivities, song and dance but because of COVID-19, most will be keeping it low key this year.

An enchanting collaboration

To lift spirits, a group of prominent Sarawakian artists and figures came together to make a special music video to the tune of "Liling", an Orang Ulu song.

The video features many notable figures including Zee Avi, Dayang Nurfaizah and even sape legend Mathew Ngau Jau.

According to a report in The Star, the initiative was spearheaded by Sarawakian sape musician Alena Murang.

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31 May ✨?

A post shared by Alena Murang (@alenamurang) on May 30, 2020 at 5:27pm PDT

Alena said that the video was meant to bring "Semangat Gawai" to the Dayak communities who may not be feeling as cheery this year.

"Semangat is an inner fire, from within an individual's soul, multiplied when we come together as a community, is what we need right now to keep going," she told The Star.

The heartwarming video not only features the artists singing the beautiful tune but also includes dances from various communities and some with their full traditional attire on.

We watched the whole clip and we just can't stop smiling.

The culture, the people, the music, the spirit.

It's all so beautiful!