Cultural riches on parade at Lake Toba festival
Text and photos by Mulkan Salmona
PARAPAT, North Sumatra (JP): Traditional sounds and colorful garb prevailed as North Sumatra's cultural riches were unveiled in kaleidoscopic splendor in the 17th Lake Toba Festival.
The solemn declaration of the gong followed by the release of the Djuhung fish by North Sumatra deputy governor Pieter Sibarani marked the official opening of the festival, held in the Lake Toba tourist grounds last Thursday. The festival boasted the participation of nine regencies and four municipalities from North Sumatra, plus a sprinkling of representatives from Jambi, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Riau, Jakarta and the Malaysian island of Penang.
Participants paraded in their different costumes, but clash of colors did nothing to defuse the excitement suspended in anticipation of the coming cultural performances, the exhibition and sporting games. Some broke away from the orderly line to present the deputy governor with baskets of fruit and agricultural produce from their territories, like salak, bananas, oranges and durians, in a humble gesture of gratitude.
The 5,000 people in the audience unleashed zealous pride as hundreds of students from the local Simalungun regency strutted their stuff and performed a colossal dance on stage. The shouts of celebration echoed everywhere as people applauded and cheered in delight.
The closing event on Sunday featured 50 women from the association of female civil servants/the wives of civil servants belting out folk songs of North Sumatra. The melody of their voices struck the emotional chord more than once, leaving most of the audience spellbound.
The festival appealed to many as it comprised several events. Most of them were cultural or sports-oriented. Traditional dances, costume parades and the festival of vocal groups exhibited the cultural nuances of different territories. The sporting side had canoeing, the race of solo bolon (long boats), long distance swimming, cross-country running, enggrang (walking on stilts) and beach sepak takraw. There was also a rally of motorized pedicabs from Pematang Siantar to Lake Toba in Parapat.
Tourism
The Lake Toba festival was aimed both at preserving age-old culture and traditional arts and promoting awareness to boost tourism.
But the latter aim missed the mark, mainly due to unprofessional promotion. There were few tourists, and those who did attend did not seem enthused. Few among them were seen taking pictures or recording the events.
The head of North Sumatra's Tourism Office, P.M. Bandjarnahor, said many preparations would have to be made to promote the next festival. Promotional campaigns should be conducted long before the event took place. Cultural performances should be wrapped in better packaging and the North Sumatran people, known for their vociferous personalities, should go out of their way to welcome their new guests.
North Sumatra Governor Raja Inal Siregar said in his written address that the province needed to improve its cultural performances for future festivals to attract more tourists, particularly foreign ones.