Bengawan Solo Fair opens today

Bengawan Solo Fair opens today

SEMARANG, Central Java: Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri
is slated to open the 17-day Bengawan Solo Fair at Surakarta
palace on Friday.

Organizing committee chairman Suyanto said here on Thursday
that this year's opening ceremony of the annual cultural fair
will be highlighted by a dance performance of 100 traditional
dancers accompanied by 50 players of traditional lesung musical
instruments.

"The presence of vice president Megawati will help boost the
event as part of our national agenda for tourism," he added.

Megawati is also scheduled to open on Friday the Danar Hadi's
Antique Batik Museum on Jl. Slamet Riyadi and to perform prayer
at the Wustho mosque.

The event will feature an exhibition, a seminar and cultural
performances from across the country. There will also be a
discount fair featuring products from 250 entrepreneurs in the
province.

"A wide range of handicraft products will be displayed at the
Sala Palace exhibition hall, while export oriented home industry
products will be shown at Mangkunegaran Palace and electronics at
the Wisata Graha building," Suyanto said.

During the 1998 fair there were some Rp 600 million worth of
transactions while last year the figure almost tripled to Rp 1.6
billion.

"We have high hopes that this year's figure will be higher,"
Suyanto said.(har/lup)