Visitors pack the Bogor Festival

BOGOR: The 2002 Bogor Festival has had a high turnout of visitors, with this year's total expected to surpass those in previous years, the festival's organizing committee said on Wednesday.

Organizing committee chairman Gatut Susanta said that to date the number of visitors to the event since it opened on May 20 had reached 22,000. Last year, the festival attracted 22,000 people by its close. This year that number is expected to top 28,000.

This year's festival, which was organized to coincide with the city's 520th anniversary, features several programs for the public, including the Istana (palace) Open, sporting events and cultural events, including the Chinese Barongsai dance .

Gatut said that by far the favorite program among visitors was the Istana Open, in which they could enter the state palace in Bogor and the Bogor Botanical Gardens free of charge.

Ten city administrations as well as the embassies of Japan and Italy are participating in the festival, which is slated to close on Saturday.--JP