Jl. Jaksa fair opens in style
JAKARTA (JP): For the fourth successive year, Jl. Jaksa, a Central Jakarta street well-known among the foreign backpacking brigade, is hosting a cultural festival.
A street carnival yesterday afternoon from Hotel Sari Pan Pacific on Jl. M.H. Thamrin to Jl. Jaksa marked the start of the five-day Pesta Jl. Jaksa '97.
Traffic quickly became heavily congested after the parade consisting of, among others, Betawi (native Jakarta) dancers and two pairs of traditional ondel-ondel puppets and horse-carts, started at around 3 p.m.
Motorists, however, did not complain or honk at each other during the snarl as most of them watched and enjoyed the parade.
Hundreds of people, including many children, flocked to Jl. Jaksa and waited patiently for the start of the event which was officially opened by Deputy Governor of Economic and Development Affairs Tb.M. Rais.
Unlike previous years, this year's fair, besides presenting Betawi culture and art will also feature for the first time performances from a foreign participant.
"Two foreign countries, from New Zealand and South Africa, were scheduled to participate in the event, but due to unexpected circumstances, only South Africa will be present," the head of the fair's organizing committee, Fernando H. Titaley, told The Jakarta Post.
There will also be acts from other parts of Indonesia, including performances by troupes from Ponorogo, East Java, and Gondang Batak, North Sumatra, he said.
The fair, which is in the street famous for its inexpensive hotels catering to budget visitors from overseas, ends on Saturday.
In the area, visitors can enjoy traditional Betawi food and drinks until 9 p.m.
The organizers have provided 90 stands: 30 for home industry products, 15 for food and beverages, 25 for small-scale businesses and 20 others.
However most merchandise on sale was modern and ordinary, such as garments or leather products, rather than traditional local handicrafts.
"This event is not only intended to boost the tourism industry here, but is also expected to help promote local businesses," Fernando said.
The organizers expressed optimism that more visitors would visit this year's fair than previous ones.
In 1995, 40,000 visitors jammed the streets and 50,000 came last year.
Fernando said the fair was also aimed at extending tourists' length of stay in the city from two to five days.
Data from the Central Statistics Bureau shows that the number of foreign tourists visiting Jakarta tends to increase every year.
In 1996, the number of foreign tourists substantially increased from 1.3 million to 1.67 million.
In the first six months of this year, however, the number fell to 712,022 from 815,881 from the corresponding period in 1996. The Jakarta Tourist Agency's estimate for the whole year is 1.6 million. (ste)