Int'l festival to feature artists from 16 countries

Posted at: The Jakarta Post
July 16, 2009

Artists from 16 countries will perform at the Borobudur International Festival 2009, to be held next week at the eponymous Buddhist temple in Magelang, Central Java.

Event organizer Gatot Bambang Hastowo said representatives from Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Germany, Belgium and the United States would join Indonesian artists in the July 16-20 festival.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to open the Rp 2 billion event.

A parallel event, the Borobudur Travel Mart, will coincide with the cultural festival.

Fathur Rahman, chairman of the Central Java association of tour and travel bureaus, said the Travel Mart would serve as a meeting place for buyers from 15 countries and sellers from 32 provinces across Indonesia.

He added religious, historical and cultural tour packages in the Central Java towns of Magelang, Jepara, Kudus, Semarang and Surakarta would be offered during the event.

A seminar on the theme "Discussing a World Wonder" will be held on the sidelines of the festival.
The event will be the first Borobudur International Festival since the inaugural one in 2003.
This year's festival is aimed at promoting Indonesian tourism, particularly in Central Java and Yogyakarta, and revitalizing the world heritage Borobudur Temple as a "miracle on Earth".

The event is part of a series of Visit Indonesia Year 2009 programs focusing on MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition) and marine tourism.