"This has been our tradition, silaturahmi *strengthening bonds* among the Betawi people a few weeks after Lebaran," No'in, a member of the organizing committee and a native Jakartan, said.

The festival, organized at Ragunan Camping Ground in South Jakarta, ran from Saturday to Sunday, and from morning to evening.

About 50 official booths were set up in the festival selling Betawi food like nasi uduk (coconut rice with condiments), laksa (curry soup with rice cake), gado-gado (vegetables) and various items like batik cloth and bottled honey.

Besides the official booths with white tents, many street vendors also entered the area. They opened their business any place they could with many people, making the festival look like the city itself: festive and with a bit of chaos.

A medicine seller with his megaphone competed with the voice of the dangdut singer while a nearby kue rangi (grilled coconut with tapioca) seller fanned the flames at his cooking stove.

Another seller who displayed his plastic sunglasses on a tarpaulin mat on the ground was busy packing up his stuff. "I'm moving there, near the way out. It's not busy here, but the people will go home and then they will flock there," Arwis said, pointing to an exit gate.

Another vendor selling inflated, giant badminton rackets, was busy pumping air into one of the toy rackets while nearby a kerak telor vendor (Betawi omelette) and a toge goreng (fried bean sprout) vendor were busy serving customers.

There was trash all around them - everywhere. Not far from them, parents took pictures of their children posing with ondel-ondel (giant effigies) while some men wearing Betawi attire (long sleeves shirt, pants, peci or black hat and a scarf) sat around at makeshift Betawi houses, prepared as centers of interest.

Several meters away, in front of the dangdut stage, a small group of visitors danced to the tune while many other watched them and the band.

It was obviously a chaotic, open and happy day for the visitors.

"Today is good, praise the Lord," said a kue rangi seller. "It was full when I started," he said, while showing the little bit of dough left in the drawer of his cart.

He said he usually sold the cake at Buncit Raya. "This is a Betawi recipe, but I came from Lampung, and my boss is from Sumedang *West Java*," he added.

"I came here with my husband and my two children on our motorcycle," Indri, a resident of Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, said. "It's the first time I go to Lebaran Betawi. It's quite fun, I see a lot of Betawi food," she said.

Last year Lebaran Betawi was held in Lapangan Banteng, Central Jakarta. The event was organized by the Betawi Native Jakartans Association (Bamus Betawi), a government-sponsored Betawi organization. Other Betawi organizations like Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) and Betawi Family Forum (Forkabi) also participated in the festival.

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