Kemang Festival proves Jakarta needs good party

Kemang Festival proves Jakarta needs good party

Eka N. Ginting, Contributor, Jakarta

Kemang Street Festival 2002, an event organized by
RajaCraft.com, a business unit of indo.com, with the full support
of the Kemang community and in partnership with JakArt@2002, took
place on Jun. 1, 2002.

Jl. Kemang, stretching almost one kilometer from McDonalds to
Barbados, was blocked off from motor traffic. And starting from
about 9 a.m., pedestrians, numbering easily over 200,000 people,
amassed at the area, creating crowds like never before in Kemang,
lasting until after 8 p.m.

Who were these people, who sacrificed their precious Saturday
to hang out in the sun in the middle of Kemang? There were three
major groups.

First, there was the local Kemang community. Behind the
luxurious compounds of expatriate housing and international
schools, there are rows and rows of local housing, ranging from
bare shacks to more modern, brick buildings sprawled behind the
major roads of Kemang.

That Saturday, the people of Kemang came out of their houses,
and enjoyed the entertainment and festivities on offer at Kemang
Street Festival. Among the most amazing sights was the facial
expression of a 10-year old boy, lost in enjoyment in front of a
jazz band. There was also a taste of Reog Ponorogo dance and an
impressive display of Japanese drums.

The second group consisted of yuppies. Always well dressed in
branded attire, toting and yakking on their cellular phones,
these were the mall crowd, who just for this day forgot their
mall existence and instead broke a sweat amid hundreds of
thousands of people.

To think that these people would be willing to drive for over
half an hour, spend the same time looking for parking, walk back
and forth for over three or four hours under the glare of
Jakarta's sun - it was quite remarkable. And they shop. Shop they
did until all the restaurants ran out of food, the ATM machines
needed to be refilled, and vendors smiled to welcome them,
resisting the closing bell well beyond the promised 8 p.m.

The third group was the expatriate community, who now call
Kemang home, with a few invited friends and colleagues from
Menteng and Pondok Indah. Baby strollers were out and hit the
asphalt - a phenomenon you rarely see in Jakarta. Shorts and boat
shoes and flowery summer dresses were out.

They moved from stall to stall, stood and enjoyed the arts
performances, and even danced along with the Brazilian Street
Carnival procession.

"The only difference is that they dress up more here," quipped
a tall redhead with a distinct New York accent. "And the lack of
Budweiser".

If there is one thing that we are proud to say about Kemang
Street Festival, it is that it brings people together for fun.
These three distinctly separate groups - continents apart in
their daily living, economic, religious and cultural backgrounds
- converged on Jl. Kemang together, enjoying the festivities.

As the street festival proved, Jakarta simply needs a good
party!