Jakarta - Jakarta‘s most historic area dressed itself up Sunday to bring back its heyday and reminisce the Dutch colonial era.
The annual Old Town Festival was held in Fatahillah Park, West Jakarta, to increase people‘s interest and appreciation of Kota -- the Old Town -- and to promote the place as a tourist destination.
The 130-hectare Old Town is Jakarta‘s heritage site and holds many legacies from the Dutch, although some of the historical buildings are in poor condition.
The festival featured a cultural parade involving the ontel (old bicycle) bikers, a marching band, barongsai (lion dance), Jakarta‘s ondel-ondel (dancing effigies) and much more.
Museum artifacts were displayed around Fatahillah Park from the Jakarta History Museum, Museum of Puppets and the Art and Ceramic Museum.
"The festival is well-packaged," visitor Dede said.
"I can see ontel, puppets, barongsai, and I can even try to make a ceramic here.
"Unfortunately, the reconstruction project is a bit disturbing," he said, referring to a reconstruction project of the park‘s ground.
The festival attracted locals and many foreign tourists.
"There are a lot of cultures in Indonesia and they‘re totally different from my country -- I think the parade was beautiful," said Italian tourist Francesca.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com (28 Agustus 2007)
