Fashion and food festival a mix of everything

Fashion and food festival a mix of everything

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Sunday is the final day of the 2004 Jakarta Fashion and Food
Festival at Kelapa Gading Permai residential area, North Jakarta,
and it offers a wide array of events, from fashion shows to
traditional dance, food from a variety of regions and even a talk
show about cancer.

The five-day festival, as its name suggests, features fashion
and food as its main attractions.

"The nontraditional part of the event is the fashion and the
traditional part the food," committee chairman Ng Kui Lai told
The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

A one-meter-high stage with white backdrop occupies most of
the main atrium of Kelapa Gading Mall. Row after row of green and
orange chairs stand ready for visitors to gaze at models,
including six international ones, parading clothes ranging from
casual to bridal wear.

"I just love to see bridal shows," said Neneng, 28, one of the
visitors who came especially for the fashion shows.

Ng said that the main stage had attracted many participants.
"Even a TV station from Malaysia has broadcast live three of our
one-hour shows," he said.

The festival did not ignore ethnic costume, either.
Thirteen stalls, selling mostly batik and embroidered clothes,
were positioned around a smaller stage that was ready for
traditional acts, including Betawi (indigenous Jakartan) and
Balinese dance, as well as batik and shadow puppet painting.

"Maybe we've put on a few too many events," said Ng. "We were
not sure about the public response because this is the first time
we've staged such a festival."

When the Post arrived at the small stage at 2 p.m., the show
had not started yet, although the schedule indicated there should
be batik painting and wood carving. Ten minutes later an a
capella group entertained the audience, followed by a person in a
puppet character giving away products from one of the sponsors.

Visitors who wanted to see Betawi dance, supposedly at 3 p.m.,
were kept waiting until 4 p.m. for a show that lasted little more
than 10 minutes.

Nevertheless, the festival managed to attract visitors. "It is
not usually this crowded on Saturdays," said Dewi, a frequent
visitor to the mall. She claimed to have heard about the event
but did not go especially to see it.

"But the food is just the regular stuff," said the 32-year-old
mother, pointing to the upper floor where the food court is
located. Little did she know that the food festival was held at
Gading Batavia, one street away from Kelapa Gading Mall.

Twenty-eight temporary stalls are offering traditional food
from 15 provinces until May 30. The numerous restaurants in the
complex are also putting on an "eat and win" promo until June 30,
where customers can get merchandise after spending a specified
amount of money.

The mall has already staged a model search, photograph
competition and designer competition for the last two months. The
awards ceremony will be held at the close on Sunday.