Imagine visiting a city square to watch women dance to a percussive gamelan emsemble, while dining on spicy noodles in coconut milk. This place is called alun-alun in Indonesia, and it’s something the Permai B.C. Association plans to recreate in an upcoming celebration of Indonesian culture.
“It’s just like going into another country,” said Martin Prijatna, president of the Permai B.C. Association. “I’m hoping people will get the atmosphere of our rich culture. We have non-stop performances for five hours.”
For the first time, the annual festival is open to the general public. Alun-Alun Indonesia 2016 is set for Saturday, Oct. 8, from noon to 5 p.m. at Burnaby’s Nikkei Centre.
One of the highlights will be gamelan, a collection of percussive metal instruments that people hit with mallets. Festival goers will have a chance to learn how to play gamelan, which hails from Java, the country’s most populated island. Of course, there’s authentic, traditional food: spicy delicacies, rich with bold flavours, with coconut milk and peanut sauce.
“They don’t Westernize it,” said Prijatna. “It’s like homemade food.”
Local politicians have also been invited: Burnaby Lougheed MLA Jane Shin will deliver a speech, and Burnaby Edmonds MLA Raj Chouhan is expected to attend.
Prijatna hopes the event will spread awareness about his culture.
“Not many people know where Indonesia is,” Prijatna said. “There are 18,000 islands, many religions, many dialects, many cultures and traditions that we’d like to introduce.”
The Nikkei Centre is at 6688 Southoaks Cres. Admission is $3. People must sign up for association membership because of food safety regulations.
The Permai B.C. Association is an Indonesian cultural group. Info www.permaibc.ca.
