TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Gandrung Sewu Festival 2017 to enliven Banyuwangi
This year’s theme, Kembang Pepe, tells the story of kembang Pepe’s fight against the Dutch.
Change Size
Signature dance: A dancer performs the Seblang dance while in a trance as part of an annual ritual in Olehsari village, Banyuwangi, East Java. (JP/Aman Rochman)
Banyuwangi in East Java is set to hold the Gandrung Sewu Festival 2017 on Oct. 8.
This year’s theme, Kembang Pepe, tells the story of kembang Pepe’s fight against the Dutch.
Back in the Dutch colonization era, Gandrung Sewu in Banyuwangi was more than a show as it was also an act to capture the Dutch army. Kembang Pepe tells the story of Gandrung dancers who give alcohol to the Dutch until they were drunk and then executed them in a forest or ocean.
This mass dance festival receives the full support from the Tourism Ministry as it is considered as one of Banyuwangi’s top events that involve plenty of participants.
Read also: What to discover in West Java cultural village Ciptagelar
The ministry's archipelago tourism marketing development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti is hopeful that the festival will receive another Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI). Back in 2012 the event scored one MURI for the largest number of dancers with 1,047 people.
“The number of participants should increase this year; I hope Gandrung Sewu 2017 could earn another MURI and become a local and overseas tourists attraction,” told Esthy.
Prior to the festival, the committee held auditions for dancers in five locations across Banyuwangi.
Among the applicants were middle school and high school students from five districts in Banyuwangi, namely Giri, Wongosorejo, Banyuwangi, Kalipuro and Glagah.
The committee decided to only feature 1,048 dancers for the finale with each district could only send a maximum of 50 dancers to participate. (kes)
