Jakarta's New Faces
Jakarta. The Jakarnaval was held again on Sunday after a three-year absence. With the theme "Jakarta's New Face," the street carnival featured floats, costumes and dances from various regions in Indonesia to reflect the capital city's multicultural spirit.
The street carnival was held on several main thoroughfares in Central Jakarta. A stage on Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan was reserved for a big band playing national songs like "Indonesia Pusaka" and traditional Betawi songs such as "Jali-Jali" and "Kicir-Kicir."
Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan opened the parade with a speech at City Hall late in the afternoon.
Leading the parade were the masked performers of reog, an East Javanese street dance performed by dancers in a spiritual trance. There were also a gambang kromong band, the traditional orchestra of peranakan Chinese-Indonesians, and dancers from Papua and Yogyakarta.
Foreign embassies also joined the carnival during the "Foreign Culture Parade," including the Embassy of Morocco and the South Korean Cultural Center, which had women dressed up in colorful hanbok, the traditional Korean dress, strolling languidly among the crowd.
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