Indonesia to Set One Big Carnival in Each Province by 2019

Jakarta (Antara) - Indonesia has set a target of having one big carnival in each province by 2019 to display the local culture, which will be promoted globally. "Our target is that in the next five years (in 2019), each province will be a member of the Indonesian Carnival Association, which will be in charge of staging the carnival in their region," Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry's Director of Special Interest Tourism Development Achyaruddin said here Friday. Seven provinces had become members of the Indonesian Carnival Association (AKARI), one of which is East Java with the Jember Fashion Carnival (JFC), Achyaruddin explained. The JFC had been recognized as one of the world's four unique carnivals along with the ones in New Orleans (US), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Germany. "Next year, five provinces will join the AKARI and hold a carnival in their regions," Achyaruddin said. The five provinces are North Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara, Yogyakarta Special Region along with Lampung, and Jambi. At the first step, AKARI would hold a "Wonderful Archipelago Carnival of Indonesia" (WACI) to display the various carnivals in Indonesia, which would be integrated with the Jember Fashion Carnival (JVC), Achyaruddin said. "Within the next five years, we hope the WACI can be held in other cities, but at this time, we will organize it in Jember until it becomes popular," he said. The first WACI was held in Jember, East Java, on August 23, 2014, which displayed seven carnivals in the seven member provinces of AKARI, including Jember Fashion Carnival, Solo Batik Carnival, Tenggarong Kutai Carnival and Bangka Belitung Carnival along with Kuta Carnival, Jakartanaval, Gading Night Carnival, and Batam Riau Islands Carnival. "We do hope this event will benefit the development and promotion of the tourist destinations in Indonesia," Achyaruddin said. (*) Reporting by Hanni Sofia