Walking Among Giant Straw Creatures

Thu, November 15, 2018 / 02:33 pm

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Mingling with the giants: The Straw Festival, held from October. 17 to 28, has become a magnet for tourist. JP/Maksum Nur Fauzan
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Ready to attack: The Straw Festival includes an enormous bovine sculpture, which refers to fossils discovered in the village. JP/Maksum Nur Fauzan
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Prehistoric pal: A boy poses beside a Stegodon sculpture at the Straw Festival, which celebrates discoveries from the prehistoric era in Banjarejo village, Grobogan, Central Java. JP/Maksum Nur Fauzan
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Not your average ride: Some sculptors are more interested in modern vehicles than beasts of the past, as this giant motorcycle sculpture shows. JP/Maksum Nur Fauzan
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Fiery moves: A reog mask dance enlivens the Straw Festival in Banjarejo village of Grobogan, Central Java. JP/Maksum Nur Fauzan

Maksum Nur Fauzan

Residents of Banjarejo village in Grobogan, Central Java, use leftover straw from the harvest to entertain their imagination. Ten tons of straw were sculpted into prehistoric creatures and displayed at the Straw Festival from Oct. 17 to 28.

They have a good reason for choosing the primal theme, following lastyear’s discovery in the village of a 4-meter-long fossil of a Stegodon — one of the largest species of the elephant family.

Aside from the 37 sculptures of prehistoric animals, visitors also marveled at a giant straw bicycle and motorcycle.

The festival is part of the village’s strategy to embrace its prehistoric appeal and drive tourism.

The village has also set up the Omah Balung Purbakala (Prehistoric Fossil House), which displays, among other things, the fossils of the Stegodon and an extinct bovine also discovered in the village.

The strategy has drawn thousands of visitors to the village and set the local economy in motion.