26 participants at Borobudur festival

SEMARANG, Central Java: Twenty-six cultural troupes from 16 countries, including Indonesia, have confirmed their participation for the International Folklore Art Festival to be held at the Borobudur Temple from July 7 to 11.

Head of the province's tourism office, Moelyono Baroen, said yesterday that the deadline of applications to join the event was closed on Tuesday.

He said that of the 17 countries who applied, only 15 confirmed.

The countries are Egypt, South Africa, Finland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Slovakia, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Russia, Australia, Rumania, Nigeria, Czech, and Sudan.

The foreign cultural troupes will be joined by local ones from Jakarta, West Java, Bali, Yogyakarta, and Central Java.

According to Moelyono, the 5-day festival will start daily from at 07:00 a.m. and continue on to 11:30 p.m.

Each performance is expected to last between 30 to 60 minutes, Antara reported.