Jember dreams of becoming Indonesia's Rio de Janeiro

ID Nugroho, Correspondent, Jember, East Java

A rush of cold morning air shot into the room the moment Nadia opened the door of her house on Jl. Fatahillah, Jember on Sunday Aug. 7. Several bare-chested young men wearing shorts were in the sitting room, sitting huddled on the shabby sofa, shivering with cold and crossing their arms tightly across their chests to get warm.

Several young girls were also there, the make-up on their faces still unfinished.

"Oh, the journalist is here now. Please come in. Sorry, it's still messy. We have to get ready for a program later this morning," said 25-year-old Nadia.

One of the make-up girls, Nadia is the leader of a Spanish group that will take part in the 4th Jember Fashion Carnival (JFC) to be held in Jember on that Sunday. Nadia and her group of dozens of girls have been seriously preparing themselves to appear like Spanish lasses in the festival since they passed the selection test. The girls went shopping to buy the fabric for their costumes and some other accessories like colorful ropes and tassels made of raffia. The closer they were to D-day, the busier they became in preparing themselves for the big event.

"I have not slept a wink since Saturday night," Nadia told The Jakarta Post while busily painting the body of one of her group members.

JFC is a fashion carnival participated in by some 450 participants. It is unique not only because it sees more participants than an ordinary fashion show but also because unlike the usual fashion shows, the catwalk is the 3.6 kilometer- long main street in downtown Jember. Not surprisingly, about 100,000 people were expected to line the street to watch the carnival.

JFC Vice President Dynan Fariz said that the idea of organizing the JFC came from the desire to make Jember Indonesia's first tourist destination with fashion as its main attraction. "In Brazil, you have the fashion festival in Rio de Janeiro so in Indonesia you will have the Jember Fashion Carnival," said Fariz.

The fashion carnival in Jember, also dubbed the City of Tobacco, is unique in that it features the global fashion styles and trends. This year's carnival was held under the "Anachronic, Energetic, Chic Tonic, Mimetic and Striptic" theme.

"The costumes on show are divided into several groups: Archipelago, Tsunami, Deconstruction, Grand Prix, Egypt, Spain, England and the Caribbean," said Fariz.

Acting Jember regent, Sjahrazad Masdar, said a lot of challenges had to be dealt with to turn Jember into Indonesia's Rio de Janeiro.

"One of the challenges is the fact that Bali is still Indonesia's prime tourist destination. Jember must strive to be better than Bali in luring tourists," he told The Post.

The data compiled by Jember regental tourism office shows that every year this city, which boasts five beaches, three waterfalls and a vast expanse of plantations, sees only about 1,400 foreign tourists and 332,000 domestic visitors.

"I believe that in future more foreign tourists will change their plan of visiting Bali and come to Jember, instead," he said.

JFC, he went on, will hopefully make Jember more popular among foreign tourists. An observation made by The Post confirmed this. Several foreigners were seen among the spectators witnessing this year's JFC.

Dutch freelance photographer Lou Leunissen, for example, said that he specially came to Jember for the JFC. "While in Bali, I met some of those taking part in this year's JFC. I have come here to see them again," he said.

Lou was charmed by the rich nuances of the fashion carnival. Two memory cards of his digital camera were full of pictures of the show.

"I have taken so many pictures I didn't realize the batteries of my digital camera needed recharging. It is really a shame," he said, while standing on the sidewalk witnessing the carnival.

Like Lou, domestic tourists witnessing this fashion carnival were really absorbed by this unique mobile fashion show, especially when the saw the tsunami theme, which dwelled on the killer tidal wave that wrought devastation in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. Several spectators, including some journalists, shed tears when dozens of models were in action. JFC is extraordinary, indeed.