URBANSCAPES, the hugely popular creative arts festival, is already a catchphrase among the youth. The 2009 edition, which was held recently at KL  Performing Arts Centre, Sentul, is the festival's fourth edition.

However, despite this year's event being billed as the most successful, drawing almost 10,000 people, it has also unwittingly become a source of controversy, due to the revelation that two festival goers were confirmed to have been infected with the A (H1N1) virus.

To their credit, Free Form, the coorganiser has acted speedily on the matter and posted a notice to festival  goers, advising them to go for medical checkups as a precautionary measure.

Malay Mail speaks to Free Form chief executive officer Adrian Yap, who is also publisher and editor-in-chief of urban culture KLue and Junk magazines, on the issue.

When did you learn that a festival goer was a carrier of the A(H1N1) virus?

On Monday night, my team was alerted to rumours that an individual who had the virus had attended the
event. Naturally, this drew enquiries from concerned attendees.

How did the team respond to the alert?

After a lot of hard work, we managed to track down the individual on Tuesday afternoon. After verifying the facts with him, we then wasted no time in posting an official statement on the event's website (http://www.urbanscapes.com.my/). We also posted updates via KLue's Twitter account (http://twitter.com/KLue).

How many people attended the event?

We had close to 10,000 people that day, comprising attendees, crew members and performers, who flocked to more than 50 performances and 130 booths.

Have you been liaising with the Health Ministry on the matter?

We have had difficulty getting in touch with the ministry. The two A (H1N1) hotline numbers were constantly busy.

Nevertheless, we will continue to post updates on our website. Twitter users will also be able to get regular feedback from us on the issue.