Lampung beauty on show at Krakatau Festival

Lampung beauty on show at Krakatau Festival

By Ati Nurbaiti

The Krakatau Festival, held each year in South Lampung, is a
lively commemoration of Mount Krakatau's 1883 eruption which
claimed some 38,000 lives. At this year's eighth festival, an
"adventure" theme has been introduced together with the soft
opening of the Kalianda Resort. The Jakarta Post reports on part
of the activities following an invitation from the resort's
management, PT Kalianda Lampung Tourism Development. The second
story was written by another reporter who went there as a
tourist.

KALIANDA, Lampung (JP): The celebrations on Kalianda beach
during the Krakatau Festival last weekend became livelier as the
night progressed.

But the crowd that had gathered around the beach stage, for
the soft opening of the Kalianda Resort, were gradually
distracted from the scheduled performances.

During pauses in the acts, people could hear strange noises
coming from somewhere behind the stage. The mix of exciting folk
rhythms and sounds, however, could not compete with the powerful
speakers.

But a small group of spectators left the big stage to see what
was happening. What they found were singers and musicians playing
traditional music for a handful of people.

When the bands on stage finished playing, more and more people
congregated around the off-stage singers and people playing drums
and string instruments.

An organizer later explained that the performers were entrants
in a contest and there had been plans for them to play on the
main stage.

Bandarsyah, from the local office of the Ministry of Education
and Culture, said: "This is a classic song contest which is part
of the folk arts festival held each year in the Krakatau
Festival." An explanation maybe lost on the hundreds of guests.

The strange arrangement of performances, at the expense of the
traditional musicians, was due to some confusion over the
starting time, he said.

The contest was originally part of the day's performance but
after one group performed they were asked to move to another
stage.

One elderly musician said: "We were quite confused as to where
we should perform."

But he bore no grudge.

Another musician said: "We only hope it will not happen again.

"We are happy that this place is being developed ... so more
people from inside and outside the country will be able to
appreciate our art and culture better."

Bandarsyah said most foreign guests and tourists stuck to the
back of the stage so they could enjoy the impromptu performance.

Earlier in the day, there were a variety of performances
ranging from Sumatran and Lampung dancers to a jovial cabinet
minister riding an elephant.

A traditional mask dance and debus (magic) performers from
Banten, West Java, who performed seemingly painful feats while in
a trance, were among the favorites.

Modern dancers moved to the beat of a dynamic percussion
rhythm which preceded and followed a fashion show of designs
based on Lampung heritage.

The fireworks were awing and may have served as a small
reminder of the terrible eruption in the waters between South
Sumatra and West Java more than a century ago.

Sensitive

The Krakatau Festival, which has been organized by the
provincial administration in previous years, is meant to
entertain and promote local culture as both attractive and
accessible to locals and outsiders.

With the introduction of the adventure theme, as a permanent
feature, private organizers face the challenge of being more
sensitive to the festival's ideals. Authorities even reminded the
managers of the beach resort that they cannot put aside the
interests of the locals.

Hopefully, the need to move the traditional musicians away
from the main stage was only due to the resort opening.

Better organization would ensure a more coordinated provision
of information and services so visitors would not be sent here,
there and everywhere, wasting valuable time.

A response from activity attendants such as: "Oh, we don't
take care of that, that's the other organizer", only serves to
put off people planning to attend next year's festival.

The price range made some activities available to all
visitors, regardless of the size of their pay packets. The
cheapest contest, the "Coconut He-Man" clash, was Rp 2,500 per
person while the Krakatau tour, limited to 22 people per jet
foil, was Rp 95,000 per person.

For those who did not want to spend money on hotels, there was
a camping ground (rented tents cost Rp 30,000 per night) near the
kite festival. But campers must organize their own camping
equipment, including lighting!

The Kalianda Bay Adventure -- a low energy consuming package
of river rafting, an "elephant safari" and bumpy bicycle ride --
cost Rp 25,000, including car and boat transportation and
refreshments.

Visitors who missed the morning registration also missed
seeing the birds and other inhabitants of the Lubuk River, which
leads into the bay.

All activities, or their registration, were held about the
same time so people could look out for interesting things such as
ruwatan, the morning presentation of sacrifices to the gods of
the sea.

More information needs to be spread to locals, including those
with less access to newspapers.

This was the first time the festival was held at Kalianda,
probably due to its proximity to the beach resort site.

Across the bay, villagers emerged with their bicycles to see
elephants and water sport contests later in the afternoon.

"We heard there was going to be a boat competition here," one
farmer said. "But it's so quiet ... we wonder where it is?"

The competition had taken place at the other end of the
waterway.

The only scene left for the villagers was the elephants who
regularly disappeared from the beach with paying visitors on
their backs.