Betawi Cultural Festival: Jakarta, Indonesia

By Wombat | September 11th, 2006 | 3 Comments »

The Betawi Culture Festival, run by the Jakarta Cultural and Museum Agency and the Betawi Cultural Organization (LKB), will be held at the Setu Babakan Kampong in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, from Sept. 13 to 16. according to an article in the Jakarta Post.

The event will involve traditional contests and displays, such as an ondel-ondel decorating competition, culinary demonstrations, folk music such as Kicir-kicir and children’s games. Organizers say they hope it will help improve the economic standing of the local community.

The festival is being held on the ninth anniversary of its launch.

Setu Babakan is an area in which Betawi residential architecture has been preserved. Sixty percent of its residents are Betawi.

“Although we have already picked the contestants for some of the competitions, such as university students for painting and cooking, a few of them are open to the public,” said LKB’s cultural division head, Yoyo Muchtar, on Friday.

Other competitions include Rebana Qasidah Plus (traditional Islamic music) and gambang kromong contests, Betawi dances and a short story reading competition. Prizes will be awarded, although they are yet to be announced, and taking part in the competitions ill be free.

Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo is scheduled to open the four-day festival.

“Betawi culture is for all, not just for the Betawi people,” he said Friday.

Over the years the festival, which this year will cost around Rp 400 million, has helped the local community raise its standard of living.

“The price of land in the area has increased from Rp 150,000 to Rp 600,000 per meter because of the event. Vendors’ profits used to be around Rp 60,000 a day, and now they’re at about Rp 500,000 each day,” said Yoyo.

He added that 1,000 elementary school students had been invited to attend the festival over the weekend.

“So that they will have had an idea about Betawi culture since childhood,” said Yoyo.

The success of the Setu Babakan festival could encourage other Betawi kampongs to hold similar events, he said.

Cultural and Museum Agency deputy head Agung Widod said the agency was also planning to hold a seminar on Betawi culture and heritage at the University of Indonesia’s social and political science department on Sept. 15.
Yasmin Shahab, an anthropology professor who will speak at the seminar, said it would focus on the rights of the Betawi people amid the growth of multiculturalism in the capital.

“We would like to discuss, academically and practically, the role of Betawi people in a social and political context,” she said.