H

undreds of colorful kites adorned the sky above National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta on Sunday, flown by several kite enthusiasts who intended to participate in the annual Kite Festival to commemorate the nation'€™s Independence Day on Aug. 17.

However, the festival at Monas was canceled and later in the evening The Jakarta Post learned that the event was moved to Marto Bridge in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, without any announcement, leaving the kite makers and enthusiasts at Monas disappointed. This year, the festival was organized by the Central Jakarta municipal administration.

The hundreds of kite makers and enthusiasts, some of who came from outside Greater Jakarta, stayed at Monas park until sunset, waiting for the festival to start, not knowing that it had been moved to Marto Bridge.

One kite maker, 40-year-old Nasri, said this was his first time making kites again after a 12-year hiatus.

'€œI stopped making kites 12 years ago to focus on work to make money to pay for my daughter'€™s tuition fees,'€ he said.

Nasri, who came to Monas from Lampung to participate in the event, said he made four kites for the event, one of which was made especially for president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, the governor of Jakarta.

The kite, made out of onionskin, had the writing '€œHUT RI ke-69. Selamat datang presiden RI ke-7'€ (Happy 69th Independence Day. Welcome to the seventh president).

It also had a picture of Jokowi and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla.

He said he was disappointed that the event at Monas did not happen. However, he still flew his kite in the hope Jokowi would see it.

'€œI'€™m very sad the event did not happen. I came from Lampung. Wherever Pak Jokowi is, I really hope he sees this kite,'€ Nasri said.

Nasri came to the park at 10 a.m. and stayed until 6 p.m. He held back his tears as he took his kites and boarded a bajaj to his brother'€™s house in Karet, Central Jakarta.

Another kite maker, 38-year-old Dedy Mahendra from Surakarta, Central Java, said he had come to Jakarta to participate in the event.

He brought two homemade kites, each 10 square meters, for the event.

Like Nasri, Dedy was disappointed that the event was moved without notice.

'€œI brought my wife and kids here so they could enjoy the kites too. But there'€™s nothing going on here. Maybe the event was moved,'€ Dedy said.

He added that his two kites, made out of parachute fabric, cost him Rp 1.5 million each to make.

'€œI came to the park at 8 a.m. I asked security guards but they said that there were no festivals this Sunday. The committee should have at least announced this publicly so people did not have to come all the way here just to be disappointed,'€ he said.

Dedy criticized the city administration for a lack of information on the event.

'€œWe had no idea what time the event was starting. There was no one we could contact. We didn'€™t know which part of Monas to go to. Monas park is huge,'€ he said.

Fifty-five-year-old kite enthusiast Yudi Suwandi said he came from Bandung, West Java, to see the festival.

'€œI heard about the festival last month and I decided to come,'€ he said. Yudi said that he came to participate in the event but did not know that the festival at Monas was canceled.

'€œLast year, the kite festival here was beautiful. Many people were looking forward to the festival this year. I'€™m sure a lot of them are disappointed,'€ he said.

Jakarta Tourism Agency head Arie Budhiman said he had no knowledge of the event and was not sure why the Central Jakarta municipal administration moved the event without informing the public. Representatives of the Central Jakarta Municipal Administration could not be reached for a comment.

The announcement that the event would be held at Monas was published in several media outlets.