Indonesia
Flower Parade on Surabaya Anniversary
This May 2014, Surabaya is going to be 721 years old. A lot has been prepared in its celebration, Superkids. One of the most anticipated ones is no other than Flower and Cultural Parade (PBB). A parade of vehicle decorated with flower went on Spectacular on Sunday, May 4th 2014.
The party started at 01.00 PM at Tugu Pahlawan. The Mayor of Surabaya Tri Rismaharini released the vehicle marching to the finish lane at the City Hall. The convoy took the protocol highway; Tugu Pahlawan St, Tunjungan St, Gubernur Suryo St, and Yos Sudarso St. Along the way, thousands of people of Surabaya and visitors alike swarmed to see the beauty vehicle and the art show on the road.
Although it wasn’t a competition, everyone was doing the best to perform as best, unique and eye catching as possible. They got giant car appeared as a boat, bird head, wild life, and even tall building decorated with colorful pretty flowers. BNI 46 threw a car that attracts quite some attention. Imagine, in front of the car, stood a beautiful model wearing wide towering costume called fantasy suit. The team from Airlangga University didn’t lack behind. They put a pair of Javanese brides on the vehicle. The unique point? The couple (not really married people) were foreign students, one hundred percent white, zero Javanese look.
The cultural action was also worthy to watch. Various dance and traditional outfit were put on display. When releasing the convoy, Risma had a laugh out loud attack watching the genyek dancing group from Purwakarta as they were passing by. The dancers were bare feet kids wearing nothing but underwear. Their bodies were covered in brown dirt a whole, from head to toe. A glance look, these kids looked very much like tuyul.
There were 72 participants in PBB this year, from inside and out of Surabaya. They carried the name of their departments, both private and public. In fact, some participants from beyond the borders of East Java also joined in the fry. Just name them, Waringin Timur with the Dayak outfit, and Makassar that threw out its four ethnics; Bugis, Makassar, Toraja and Mandar. “We are not going to stop at national level. We aim all the way to international too,” said Risma.
HAFIDA INDRAWATI
PHOTOS: AHMAD KHUSAINI
