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Jakarta hosts festival fit for kings
Royalty from kraton (palaces) across the archipelago and their regal counterparts from 11 countries will descend on Jakarta this weekend for the World Royal Heritage Festival 2013
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oyalty from kraton (palaces) across the archipelago and their regal counterparts from 11 countries will descend on Jakarta this weekend for the World Royal Heritage Festival 2013.
'The festival will be the first of its kind in the world. Royal representatives from Japan, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Portugal, South Africa, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines will be participating in the event,' Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo said during a press briefing at City Hall on Tuesday.
The World Royal Heritage Festival, which will be held from Thursday to Sunday, will showcase 165 palaces from across the country, 10 foreign palaces, 300 royal carriages, 1,000 cultural performances, an exhibition, a culinary festival and various workshops.
The festival will be centered at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta.
At 3 p.m. on Sunday the royalty and other representatives, as well as the governor, will join a cultural parade on royal carriages around the Monas area.
Visitors who wish to see royal artifacts may visit the exhibition in Monas' diorama room from Thursday to Sunday between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., while the royal culinary festival will be held on the west side of Monas Square on Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
'We aim to make the festival a biennial event with different themes, such as royal cuisine or royal weddings,' he said.
One member of the royalty said that the festival also aimed to fit royal legacy into the contemporary context.
'Our archipelago was made up of hundreds of kratons before becoming the Republic of Indonesia and our presence and contribution is still relevant in this modern day as we preserve ethics, traditions and local wisdom,' KPH Adipati Joyonagoro of Purabumi Joyonagoro in Kendal, Central Java, said.
Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency head Arie Budhiman said that the city administration had set aside Rp 20 billion (US$1.68 million) to finance the event. Hundreds of security forces will be deployed to guard the four-day festival.
The parade will march from northeast Monas'Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara'Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat'Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan and return to Monas through the southeast entrance.
'Thirty royal carriages and 500 participants will join the parade, including royal guards and artistic performers. Queens and kings will wear their full costume,' Arie said.
