The Parade of Typical Cirebon Costumes

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CIREBON, KOMPAS - The West Java city of Cirebon seeks to attract more tourists this year. Last week, the city staged the Creative Fashion Carnival as part of the Cirebon City Festival as an initial step to lure tourists.

The Cirebon city administration held the Cirebon Creative Fashion Carnival (CCFC) for the first time on Sunday. The costume parade carnival, which promotes Cirebon culture, is an annual tourist promotion agenda to increase the number of tourists.

The carnival, which was held in front of the British American Tobacco (BAT) Building on Jl. Pasuketan, was packed with hundreds of visitors. The carnival featured lion dance performances and a typical Cirebon costume parade competition participated in by 160 people.

The custom competition was divided into categories of Cirebonan batik, Cirebonan ethnicity and a “Going Green and Zero Waste” custom with used goods. Some of the participants wore costumes with Cirebon\'s unique batik motifs, such as megamendung (Chinese style cloud), coastal and palace. There were also participants who performed with sintren traditional dance costumes and mask and panji dances.

A number of participants wore costumes as long as 2 meters. Visitors also took pictures with smartphones and cameras. "All participants come from Cirebon. The number reaches 160 participants, which is beyond our expectations. This shows that Cirebon is a creative city, "said the acting head of the city’s Culture, Tourism and Youth Office, Edi Bagja.

The CCFC is part of Cirebon City Festival (Cifest), which took place on Feb. 22-23 and March 2-3. A Cirebon Expo was also held in front of the BAT Building on Saturday, featuring micro, small and medium businesses.

Last week, as many as 100 tour operators and travel agents attended the Cifest to explore tourism potential in Cirebon. There were a number of problems in the holding of the first parade such as the fact that the parade lane was not still sterile from the spectators and the lack of promotion. "We will evaluate and rearrange the activities," said the deputy mayor of Cirebon, Eti Herawati.

According to Eti, the city administration will continue to promote the richness of Cirebon’s cultural art. This is in accordance with Cirebon city’s tourism motto: The Gate of Secret. Through CCFC, the city administration seeks to revive the old city area. The BAT Building, a former cigarette factory, is a cultural heritage that was established in 1924. At present, the former building of the largest cigarette produces

in West Java looks quiet, as compared to a shopping center and a more than 500-year-old Goddess of Mercy Temple nearby.

Cirebon attraction

Eti acknowledged a number of districts or cities have regularly staged different kinds of cultural festivals along before Cirebon held its own. The Jember regency in East Java has held the Jember Fashion Carnaval since 2002 and was named as the "City of Carnival" in 2017.

"Cirebon has its own cultural arts. Here, ethnic Chinese, Arabs and Cirebon are united," said Eti. The acculturation, among others, appeared on the Naga Liman Pact Train. The left and right wings symbolize paksi or birds representing Islam. The faces are similar to dragons, but have trunks depicting Chinese and Hindu influences. The train is located in the Kasepuhan Palace, one of three palaces aged about 300 years in the 37.350-kilometer square complex. Other palaces are Kanoman and Kacirebonan.

To that end, the municipal government has established a tourism calendar for 2019 with 16 main activities ,such as the Kanoman Festival, Cirebon Mask Festival and Cirebon Historia Run. The city government has also launched the Cirebon Wisatkon app (Cirebon City tour) in the Play Store to find out the tourism agenda.

The local government has also increased tourism and cultural funds from Rp 300 million per year to Rp 1.8 billion this year. The budget increase is part of the efforts to achieve the city’s target to receive at least two millions of tourists in 2019.

Last year, the number of tourists visiting the city reached 1.5 million people. In the same year, its neighbor, Kuningan regency, attracted more than 4 million tourists. The chairman of the Regional Consultative Council (DPRD) of Cirebon, Edi Suripno, appreciated the efforts of the city government to make Cirebon a gateway of Indonesian tourism. "DPRD is committed to supporting the tourism budget," he said.

Cirebon tourism and culture activist Mustakim Asteja said that besides holding festivals, the municipal government should also improve the city because tourists often complained about garbage and its chaotic situation. "The city government must also promote new tourist destinations, such as the old city of Cirebon," he said. (IKI)

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