Rp 1.5b allotted for Barongsai festival

JAKARTA (JP): The second national Barongsai (Chinese Dragon dance) festival will be held at the Bung Karno sports complex in Central Jakarta in October.

The chairman of the festival's steering committee, M. Mujibudda'awat, said on Sunday that the committee would need some Rp 1.5 bilion to organize the festival.

He was quoted by Antara as saying that the funding for the festival would be collected from sponsors, donations and also from the Undar foundation.

About 50 participants from all parts of the country have registered to participate at the festival, which is a sharp increase from 24 participants at last year's festival.

In addition, the committee will invite a number of foreign participants to this year's festival, including from Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

According to the committee's initial schedule, the participants will perform all the way from the National Monument (Monas) to the Bung Karno Sports Complex.

The first national Barongsai festival was held in Jombang, East Java, in September, 2000.