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Jakarta Post

Lights and cheer at Alun Alun Selatan Festival

Sun, August 21, 2016   /   02:24 pm
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    Tono cuts styrofoam to decorate his pedal car before the pedal cars carnival at the South Square in Panembahan during the Alun Alun Selatan Festival. JP/ Aditya Sagita

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    Tono and his wife make decorations for their pedal car for the carnival on Aug. 13. JP/ Aditya Sagita

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    Seno prepares light decorations for a pedal car before the carnival. JP/ Aditya Sagita

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    Aan works on lighting decoration on the body of the car for the carnival. JP/ Aditya Sagita

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    A pedal car is decorated like a wedding car for the carnival. JP/ Aditya Sagita

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    A miniature of Tugu, Yogyakarta’s iconic monument, is put on a pink pedal car for the carnival. JP/ Aditya Sagita

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    A motorist gives a helping hand [or foot rather] to make the trip to the carnival site faster. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    A pedal car is decorated with crackers hung from the ceiling on Aug. 13. Hanging crackers is a part of a game traditionally played on Independence Day in which people try to eat the crackers with both hands behind their back. Independence Day falls every Aug. 17. JP/ Aditya Sagita

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    The light decorations make the pedal car carnival shine brightly at nighttime. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    A pedal car waits in a long line for the carnival. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    The team of each decorated pedal car wears its own special attire during the carnival. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    A costumed team operates a pedal car as it passes Plengkung Gading near the South Square. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    A pedal car and its passengers at the festival. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    A family of foreign tourists pose with a man dressed as a wayang character during the festival. JP/ Aditya Sagita

On the afternoon of Aug. 13, something was different at Panembahan kampung in the Yogyakarta Palace complex. Almost 100 pedal car enthusiasts gathered to prepare their vehicles for the pedal car carnival that is part of Festival Alun Alun Selatan [Yogyakarta’s South Square Festival].

The enthusiasts walked around checking out each other’s cars to both compare and draw inspiration from their peers’ creations.

The festival, held by the Yogyakarta Tourism Agency, ran for two days in mid-August. On the first day of the festival on Friday, people participated in a “masangin” race: a tradition in which tourists wear a black blindfold and try to walk between two old, large, banyan trees. Many people inevitably stray far off the correct path.

The “Masangin” race is quite popular among foreign tourists in Yogyakarta.

Two pop bands, Jikustik and Danger Estrella, as well as traditional performances like puppet shows, made the event more festive. [EVI]