Kraton festival begins in Surakarta
Kraton festival begins in Surakarta
JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade
Hartarto opened the Nusantara Kraton Festival in the Central
Javanese city of Surakarta over the weekend, saying that the
tourist industry had become an important economic factor in
Indonesia.
The week-long festival was opened at the court of the of
palace (kraton) of Kasunanan. There are 20 participating palaces
in Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and East Nusa
Tenggara.
The opening ceremony was marked by a parade of 2,500 people
dressed in traditional soldiers' attire, representing the 20
palaces. Traditional cavalry and old royal carriages also took
part.
The 5-kilometer-long procession started at the Susuhunan
Palace and ended at Mangkunegaran Palace, the Antara news agency
reported.
Every evening there will be various cultural performances at
both the Susuhunan and Mangkunegaran courts. Palace artifacts
from many parts of Indonesia, which are considered to possess
supernatural powers, and products of home industries are also
being displayed.
Minister Hartarto said that last year at least four million
foreign tourists visited Indonesia, generating US$4.7 billion in
foreign currency earnings for the government.
The minister called on all businesses involved in the tourist
industry to seek new opportunities for selling Indonesian tourist
objects to tourists.
Hartarto said that Indonesia would boost cooperation in
tourism with ASEAN member countries and Asia-Pacific nations.
He said that by promoting cooperation with ASEAN countries
Indonesia hoped to improve tourism in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
From the existing cooperation with Singapore, Jakarta expects
to boost tourism in Surakarta -- which is popularly called "Solo"
-- Yogyakarta, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara, he said.
According to Hartarto, the development of tourism will also
spur progress in other economic sectors.
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave
announced that the Kraton Festival will be held once every two
years and that the West Javanese city of Cirebon, which is also
well known for its own royal house, has offered itself as the
host of the next festival.
"I will discuss the matter with both the West Java and Cirebon
administrations because financing such a festival is no small
financial undertaking," he said after the opening ceremony.
Joop said that the current festival was participated in by
3,600 people and was financed by the organizing committee.
He said that although Indonesia's royal houses no longer had
political power, most of them still played an important role in
the development of the country's culture, morality and
philosophy. (tis)