Cultural riches on parade at Lake Toba festival

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.