W

elcoming the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar, known as Cap Go Meh, Jl. Pancoran in Glodok, West Jakarta, underwent a makeover on Saturday, with a banner reading '€œFestival Cap Go Meh Glodok'€ hanging at the entrance to the street and no fewer than a hundred food tents lining its sides.

At the end of the road, around a hundred people gathered at a stage erected in front of the Krukut River to watch a Chinese lion dance, locally known as barongsai, with dancers wowing the crowds with their acrobatic moves and colorful costumes.

'€œI'€™m glad this event'€™s taking place. It'€™s still not all that lively, but it nonetheless brings joy and cheer to Chinese-Indonesians in this area, who rarely see events like this for Cap Go Meh,'€ said visitor Kurniawan Johan, a bakut (pork ribs) soup seller in the capital'€™s Chinatown.

Bringing along his wife and grandson to the event, which continued on Sunday, Kurniawan planned to watch the barongsai and performances of comedian Azis Gagap and singer Sarwendah.

Aside from barongsai, the visitors on the day were also entertained by Chinese-Indonesian music performances and tanjidor '€” Betawi musical ensembles.

 '€œAlthough it'€™s known as Chinatown, Glodok is home to a melting pot of ethnicities, such as Betawi, Portuguese and Arab. We would like to show these rich cultures through performances from people of many ethnicities,'€ said a representative of the Glodok Chinatown Community, Wijanarko, who is also a member of the event'€™s organizing committee.

Denizens of Glodok last saw a celebration of Cap Go Meh in Glodok in 2010, when thousands of participants took part in a parade that ended the festivities of Chinese New Year. The festivities, which later caused traffic jams, involved a parade for Toapekong (a Chinese deity), liong (dragon dances) and barongsai.

The biggest Cap Go Meh festivals in the country usually take place in Pontianak and Singkawang in West Kalimantan, with visitors from across the country drawn to take part in various performances and rituals, including extreme endurance feats such as being pierced with sharp objects.

'€œWe wanted to hold a similar festival here because it is the capital'€™s Chinatown, so we proposed it to the West Jakarta administration. Luckily, they accepted the idea, and even supported it,'€ Wijanarko explained.

He added that after the proposal was accepted, the Chinatown community teamed up with the West Jakarta Tourism Agency to prepare for the event with help from community members and Glodok residents.

Wawan Hermawan, chairman of the Cap Go Meh event organizing committee, said that the event was held with a budget of Rp 500 million (US$37,142) from the tourism agency.

However, he admitted that this year'€™s Glodok Cap Go Meh festival was far from perfect, as it had been organized hastily with only a month'€™s notice. As a result, the event had many shortcomings.

Decorations, for example, comprised only two banners reading '€˜Festival Cap Go Meh Glodok'€™ at the entryway and on the stage, which also bore five red lanterns. This lack of decoration created a slightly subdued atmosphere.

Wawan explained that the organizers initially wanted to involve Glodok vendors along the 300-meter Jl. Pancoran to decorate the road, as they aimed at making the festival for the people. As such, they encouraged the vendors to provide their own decorations, but, none of them did.

 '€œThey usually decorate the road by themselves during Chinese New Year, so we invited them to join us for this festival,'€ Wawan said.

'€œThe organizers will evaluate the implementation of this year'€™s festival. We hope that future festivals can be much better.'€

Wawan added that the festival might become an annual fixture in the capital'€™s celebrations calendar.